Misguided Reputations
by Issie96
Summary: This is a different kind of CHAX story where Charlie owns Angelos and has to learn to trust the Braxton family with her two most precious things- Ruby and her Business. Both soon learn that their misguided reputations are far from the truth
1. Chapter 1

_**Misguided Reputations-**_

_Hey, this is my first fanfiction so I hope you guys all like it! _

_Just a little background to the story- _

_Charlie owns Angelo's and Angelo is just the manager she employs to run it_

_Ruby is Charlie's goddaughter and that will play an important part later on_

_I hope you all enjoy it and please review it! _

"Please tell me this is a joke Angelo," Charlie incredulously cried, "How could you be so naive?"

"He's not that bad honestly. Look, when you left he helped out a lot so I offered him a job. That's all."

"A job? A job? You made him your deputy manager without consulting me at all and it's my name on the contract and my neck on the line. If you wanted to give him a job why didn't you make him a bar tender? Seriously, I don't get half the things you've been doing recently." Charlie sighed exasperated.

"Is this about us?"

"No it is most definitely not. Why would you assume that?" she questioned, irritated.

"Well we never really talked you know after..." he trailed off pathetically.

Charlie groaned, her anger gradually subsiding, "Look I'm tired, I've had a long journey and I'm not in the mood to discuss this. I'm catching up with Ruby here in the morning so I'll meet him then. It's good to see you again". With a soft kiss on the cheek Charlotte Buckton turned round and left the restaurant. Angelo's eyes didn't leave her retreating figure until she was out of sight.

The restaurant was reasonably quiet apart from its normal array of outer city business people slurping their morning coffees whilst reading their newspapers or using their ipads. At the bar, Angelo was involved in a serious conversation with his deputy manager, Darryl Braxton.

"So what is she like this Charlotte Buckton? Let me guess 50year old virgin, hairy warts and all" he enquired cheekily.

Angelo laughed, "Not exactly, no. She's coming in this morning though so just behave".

"Whatever you want but I don't get why you're so scared of her" he replied "I mean, how bad can she be?" Angelo wandered off chuckling to himself, the image of Charlie Buckton fresh in his mind.

As Angelo walked into the kitchen, a tall, curvy woman walked into the restaurant. Her red dress fitted her so well that most men in the room lifted their eyes from their laptops to stare at her as she made her way to the bar.

"I hear this is a pretty good place." Charlie stated to the Deputy Manager who was staring at this woman with a look of incredulity.

"Do you always trust what you hear?" Darryl asked, a smile playing at his lips, his dark brown eyes peering up with curiosity.

"Depends on the sources of my information I guess. So is this your place?" she asked, surveying this good looking, dark haired man with utmost interest.

"No, I'm the deputy manager." He answered truthfully.

"Really? You just kind of look like you own this place." Charlie asked.

"I wish. Some woman owns it but she stays out of it all, you know. One of those that can afford to get other people to do the hard work for them" he laughed.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. She's probably career obsessed, terrifying and never heard of make up or soap. Either that or she has a very, very rich daddy who thought he'd buy his little girl a big, fancy restaurant and whose too dim to be able to properly manage it so pays someone else to. Well, her father does."

"But you don't actually know her?"Charlie asked.

"Well, no, not exactly but I'm sure she can't be that different really. Anyway, what can I get you?" he replied, changing the subject.

"I'll take a coffee. So, let me get this straight, you've decided all of this without meeting the woman. That's a little arrogant, isn't it?" quickly changing the subject back.

"I beg your pardon?" he said, taken aback.

"Well it just seems to me you've made an opinion on a woman you've never met that is exceptionally harsh. For all you know she could've worked really hard to get this place and is now focusing on something more so she can improve the life of her and of her family. Did that never occur to you?"

"Calm down love, what's it to you anyway? It's not like you know her, is it?" Darryl asked, fully staring this suddenly angry woman in the face. He couldn't help to notice though, that although the expression on her face was one of anger, she was exceptionally beautiful. Her eyes were the brightest shade of blue and they were piercing right into his dark brown eyes.

"What's it to me? You really have no idea who I am, do you?" At that moment, a group of girls wandered into the room. At the centre was a young, dark haired 15year old whose face lit up at the sight of the woman at the bar.

"CHARLIE!" she screamed at the top of her voice. Charlie Buckton stood up and turned around in just enough time to throw her arms around the girl who had run at the speed of light towards her.

"What are you doing here Charlie, I thought you were in the city for another 3weeks at least." Ruby cried incredulously.

"Well, I came back early sweetheart didn't I? I really missed you love."Charlie pulled Ruby in closer to her.

"Sorry to interrupt the reunion but did she call you Charlie? As in, the Charlie?" Darryl interrupted. Charlie turned around and stretched out a long hand, "Charlie Buckton. You must be Darryl Braxton." she said, taking his hand in hers, "You seem surprised. Am I not what you were expecting, the little rich girl or the one that has never heard of soap."

"What?" exclaimed Ruby. "He suggested you were spoilt?" Ruby Williams turned around and fixed her great green eyes on Darryl's face, an expression of accusation written across her young face.

"In my defence, I had no idea who she was and I called the idea of you spoilt not physically you. You seem nice enough." he replied, grudgingly.

"Oh wow, thank you. That means a lot," the audible sarcasm in her voice brought a smile to the 15year olds face. She tugged Charlie's arm and with a final scathing look at Darryl she pulled her Godmother over to a small table at the back of the restaurant. Shaking his head, Darryl Braxton followed the footsteps of his manager into the kitchen where he spent the rest of the morning until he could guarantee that Charlie Buckton and her piercing, blue eyes were well out of sight.

The annual rugby tournament between the local areas to raise money for the community centre took place the following morning. The location was a pitch close to the beach, where girls were lined up having sun lotion piled on by the over eager boyfriends who relished the time they could head to the beach and gaze at the hordes of women in their too small bikinis, undetected by their better halves due to their huge, dark sunglasses.

Charlie Buckton was there early. As an official sponsor, she felt it was her duty to be there early, making sure everything was in check, screaming at the people who needed to be screamed at. She remembered the first time she came to one of these matches; she and Ruby had moved only two weeks before hand but the word 'rugby' reminded them both of home, hoping that in the match, in the safe familiarity of it, they would find the hope, the strength they needed to carry it out. Lost in her thoughts, Charlie didn't recognize the calling of her name; it took three attempts before Charlie woke out of her stupor and heard Angelo behind her.

"You alright there cloth ears?"He joked, laughing aloud.

"Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts for a minute." She replied, smiling.

"Don't worry about it. You looking forward to the match? You look nice by the way." He added as an afterthought. Charlie looked down at her short, flowing floral dress and didn't see anything particularly remarkable. She conceded though, she did prefer this outfit to the dresses and suits she wore throughout the week. It was wonderful to be able to take off the clothes that marked her as Charlotte Buckton, business woman and just wear clothes that labelled her as Charlie Buckton, a 28 year old woman; she felt a sense of freedom and youth that she never normally felt.

"Thanks. It should be a good game but I can't remember who the captain of our side is, it's changed hasn't it?"She asked.

"It's Darryl, Darryl Braxton. I heard you two met yesterday and really hit it off."

"Oh yeah we're best of friends." Charlie replied sarcastically.

"What did you think of him?" Angelo asked, curiously.

"He was arrogant, charming and has a definite chip on his shoulder. I'm not really sure that it's a good combination. I'll give him a chance and will try keeping an open mind but I've just got a feeling he's bad news. There's something about him, something that seems kind of dangerous. I don't trust him" Charlie looked fully into Angelo's face and couldn't help to wonder if he really knew what he was doing.

"Look, I should probably get going and find a place before I get attacked by the mob". Smiling to herself, Charlie Buckton wandered off to find a place in the crowd that had appeared in the matter of minutes she had been talking for.

The ball went flying from the foot of Darryl Braxton into the sidelines of the pitch, and landed next to Charlie's feet.

"Nice shot" she called sarcastically, picking up the ball and throwing it into his open hands.

"Nice legs" he replied, his eyes scanning her up and down. A smile spread across his face as he crossed the ball back over, received it back and then crossed over the line to score a try to the rapturous applause of the home crowd.


	2. Chapter 2

_Charlie Buckton prided herself on playing the best music in her restaurant so it was to her disgust that when she walked in that evening she heard a load of electrical buzzing. She stormed up to the bar, and demanded a change of music._

"_Well, what would you prefer us to play? This is the music of the minute." Angelo replied defensively_

"_I don't care if this is the music of the minute, of the month or of the year, it sounds like a fuse has exploded, set on fire and has combined with a cat squawking in the rain. We're changing it." Charlie finished definitely. "Hang on, where's Darryl? I looked at the schedule and he was on for tonight."_

"_He's downstairs looking through the music collection. Apparently, he's not a fan of the music of the minute either," Angelo shook his head in annoyance. Charlie turned around and walked in the direction of the stairs but turned back to pull out the plug from the back of the sound system to the cries of Angelo. Flashing him a wide smile she carried on going downstairs._

"_Hey, you weren't such a big fan of the music either then?" Darryl laughed as she reached where he was standing, next to 3 huge cabinets filled with cd's. _

"_Well, it wasn't exactly to my taste, no. You found anything good?"She asked. _

"_Yeah some of the stuff is really great. Kind of varied though, whose music is this?" Darryl replied, smiling._

"_It's mine actually, well I don't know whether Angelo has added to it in my absence but the majority of it is mine." Seeing the bemused expression on his face, she added "I have a lot of moods okay."_

"_I can see that, Nirvana, Rihanna, Rage against the Machine, Oasis, Lady Gaga, Ellie Goulding, Fall out Boy, , Michael Buble" he replied laughing, "You've got enough cd's for the moods of every person in this whole country. Who do you want to listen to?"_

"_You know what, you can choose," she said smiling, "But you better not have really soppy taste though and choose some Whitney Houston power ballad." _

"_Don't worry that's not really my style. How about this one? God, I haven't heard this album in ages." He held the cd up so it was visible to her. She peered at it and then a look of recognition crossed her face. _

"_So, you're a fan of David Gray?" She asked taking the cd out of his hand. _

"_I love that album; I haven't heard it in ages though. Shall we give it a go?" He looked into her smiling face and then back at the cd._

"_Yeah, lets" she replied, leading the way back up the stairs, "So which songs on it do you like?"_

"_Sail Away, it just reminds me of being young and free you know when we didn't have hordes of responsibility." He answered sincerely. _

"_No kidding, that's my favourite" she turned to look Darryl in the face and noticed that there were little flecks of green in his dark brown eyes. He ran a hand through his dark hair, smiling silently to himself as the pair reached the top of the stairs and stood there for a few seconds before being met by a very tipsy Leanne Jones. _

"_Hey Charlie, when did you get back? Oh hey Braxy, you played really well today."Her voice changed into a simpering, giggly voice that did not go unnoticed by either Charlie or Darryl. "What were you both doing down there? You sly thing Charlie." she laughed but the fakeness of it was clearly audible. _

"_I'll go put the music on, alright?" Darryl said eager to escape the clutches of an extremely giggly Leanne. Leanne Jones was a very pretty girl but she wasn't exactly renowned for her intelligence or sensitivity; she wasn't deliberately cruel but nobody could call her a saint. Charlie removed herself from the interrogation she sensed she was about to, and instead wandered over to see her best friend, Bianca Scott._

"_Hey Bianca, did you miss me?" She asked giving her friend a hug. Charlie smiled at the sound of the music that had just spread over the room. _

"_Of course I did Charl, I see Leanne interrupted you and Darryl, you seemed pretty cosy." Bianca looked into her best friends face with a look of knowing on her face. "Is there something that you're not telling me?"_

"_There is no me and Darryl, we were just picking out some music. I want to keep my eye on him" she added._

"_Why's that, want to make sure Leanne isn't taking him?" Bianca asked, prompting them both to turn around to face the bar where Leanne was praising Darryl on his efforts in the Rugby match emphatically. Charlie laughed in response. _

"_No, I'm not sure that I really trust him, there's something about him that's out of place" she said surveying him._

"_Right, so you're telling me he's fair game?" Bianca asked. _

"_Why? Are you interested?" Charlie asked curiously. _

"_Well, you've got to admit, he's gorgeous isn't he? You can't say you wouldn't?" She answered, smiling. _

"_He's not bad I suppose." Charlie replied slowly._

"_Not bad? He's gorgeous, admit it! I know that he's your taste, actually, I think he'd be pretty much to everyone's taste." _

"_Fine, he's very good looking but I'm not interested in him okay? He works here now so I'm going to be civil towards him but that's all. Just be careful around him, I really wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him and I don't want you to get hurt at all." she finally conceded. _

"_What? I'm not really interested in him, I just wanted to see your reaction, and you've never been very good at telling me what you're feeling." She admitted disapprovingly. _

"_Maybe that's because there's nothing tell" responded Charlie. _

"_Right, so you're not interested in him at all? Not even a little?" she asked a tone of disbelief in her voice. _

"_No, I'm not and if you don't mind I can see Ruby over there, so do you want to come over and say hi?" Charlie asked, changing the subject. _

"_Sure, want to go via the bar?" Bianca replied, laughing. Charlie shook her head in false irritation and joined in the laughter. She was sure that Bianca wasn't going to drop this subject anytime soon. _

_Darryl arrived early into work the next morning, deciding that the clear up of the night before would probably be quite a time consuming activity that would be best getting over with quickly. He was surprised that when he walked in he found both Charlie and Angelo already there, and having already started clearing up and were joking away. He noticed with, and though he didn't recognise it at the time, a pang of jealously that the pair looked exceptionally close. He'd heard the pair used to be together but he was sure he'd also heard that they'd broken up and weren't together anymore. _

"_Good morning Darryl, managed to escape the clutches of Leanne finally have you?" Charlie joked. _

"_How do you know I haven't just left her at home, asleep?" He asked, surveying Charlie's casual outfit. She was wearing a nice fitting pair of jeans, a tight white vest, a loose checked shirt and a pair of red converses, a contrast to the formal dress and sundress he'd seen her in previously. He couldn't work out who she really was; she seemed to be a different person every time he saw her. _

"_Did you?" She replied._

_Darryl laughed, and walked straight towards her. He put his mouth to her ear so his words were only audible to her and said "Don't be jealous. Just say the word and you can take her space." Slapping Angelo on the back as a form of greeting, he picked up the black bags that were lined up at the bar and threw one over each shoulder and walked out the door. _

"_Are you sure he's not dangerous? The police don't like him Angelo." Charlie stated, resuming the conversation they were having before Darryl had walked in._

"_Charlie, we've been over this, his family is pretty dodgy but he doesn't have a record and until he does something that tells me anything to the contrary I'm going to trust him" relaying the same argument. _

"_Fine, he doesn't have a record but he's got to be involved in some of the things his family is up to doesn't he? Look, you can't believe it's a coincidence that Joe Philips got pushed off the top of a hill two days after he called the police saying he had evidence of the Braxton family's illicit dealings?" Charlie asked. _

"_And what illicit dealings do you suppose these are?" A voice from the back of the room asked. Darryl had walked unnoticed into the room during Charlie's rant and had heard every word._

"_Maybe you'd be better off answering that." Charlie replied, turning around to face him. _

"_You're a bit of a hypocrite aren't you?" He said, ignoring Angelo's hand gestures to shut up. "I mean you make a big thing of me calling you a little rich girl or whatever but you have no hesitations in judging me or my family. Maybe we're more alike than you thought."_

"_You and I are nothing alike. All I know is that I went away for six weeks and you've managed to weasel your way into my business. If I find out that anything about you is slightly illegal I will kick you out of here so fast that you won't even register it." She stated angrily. Charlie turned on her heel and stormed out of the restaurant, not looking back. _

"_What the hell was that mate?" Angelo asked angrily, "I thought I told you to behave". _

"_Well believe it or not, I don't take well to being spoken about behind my back. Does she even know why you hired me?"Darryl retorted. _

"_No and she's not going to find out. I just need you to stay away from her alright." Angelo answered. Darryl looked up at him, his turn to be irritated._

"_Stay away from her? What the hell gives you the right to tell me what to do?"_

"_I've seen you flirting with her and staring at her when no one else was looking, playing her favourite songs." Angelo responded. _

"_So what? You two aren't dating anymore are you, so what if I like her and she likes me?"_

"_Likes you? In the nicest possible sense, Charlie wouldn't come near you with a barge pole, she thinks you're trouble." He replied, hoping this would deter him. _

"_Well, luckily for me, girls like trouble and I'm sure Charlie would be looking for something a little bit less boring after you". Angelo moved towards Darryl as though he was going to punch him but managed to stop himself in time. "That's right, you don't want to punch me because I'll go and tell Charlie about your own little indiscretions and I'm sure that you don't want her finding out about them or your relationship with her would be completely destroyed wouldn't it?" _

"_If you hurt her..." Angelo started, but was unable to finish because Darryl had, in response to reading a text, walked out of the restaurant. _


	3. Chapter 3

_Happy Easter! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far and added this story to their story alert! It's really nice to hear all your thoughts and I'm intrigued to know where you guys think I should take this so please carry on reviewing!_

_Here's another chapter- enjoy and review! _

Outside Brax quickly the scanned the car park in search of his brother but instead his eyes found Charlie who was inspecting the paint work on a very nice Mercedes.

"Nice car." He called out, prompting her to turn around and face him.

"Thanks." She replied wanting to get away but before she could close her car door, Brax was standing there holding it open. "What do you want?" she asked, sighing.

"To apologise. Look, I realise that I have a reputation or whatever, but please give me a chance and I'll try to prove to you that I'm not as bad as I seem. I have a lot of ideas for this place to improve it and would really like to discuss them with you at some point." He answered solemnly.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea Darryl," Charlie replied slowly, "I take my business very seriously and I don't want anyone wasting my time."

"I have no intention of wasting your time Charlie. I was too quick to judge you the other day and I want us to be able to start again." he said.

"Start again." she repeated.

"I mean in a business context. I understand you don't see me in that light but I really appreciate you not firing me after what I said about you the other day and I want to prove to you that I can actually fill my job capacity sufficiently," he explained.

"I'll think about it Darryl." she answered after a moment's pause causing him to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, it's just you're the only person apart from my mum who calls me Darryl. Everyone else just calls me Brax." He explained, his eyes twinkling.

"Well I'm not everyone else am I? And anyway, Brax implies we are friends which we're obviously not. You're my employee."

"Hey, you sound so sexy when you say my name that I really don't care." A grin broke out across his face as he saw a tinge of pink spread up her cheeks.

"You think it's sexy that I sound like your mum?" Charlie raised her eyebrows in disbelief at him.

"What can I say? I like women who tell me what to do, who are in charge, who are on top." His eyes were twinkling with laughter by now as Charlie continued stonily staring at him, her face masking her true emotions.

"Shame then isn't it that we don't always get what we like or what we want?" She asked, rising to his bait.

"Oh no, I always get what I want in the end. You should know Charlie, I'll never give up." His smile subdued a little as he stared pointedly into her cool blue eyes, trying to see what she was really thinking.

"Arrogance isn't a good trait Darryl and nor is being unable to accept you're fighting a losing battle. Prepare yourself for disappointment Mr. Braxton because you should know," She leaned her face in close to him, so her lips were just centimetres away from his, before whispering, "I always win." It was Brax's turn to blush now as a red glow snaked its way up his cheeks, causing Charlie to smirk. "Can you let go of my door please?"

"Yeah of course, sorry" he said, releasing the car door from his grasp and letting it slam shut. He watched as she reversed out of her gap and drove off narrowly avoiding a truck that had parked crossed over three spaces in the time they had been talking. Taking his eyes off the back of the Mercedes he walked over to the truck where his brother was parked. They greeted each other in the normal masculine manner.

"Who's that girl you were talking to?" Heath demanded.

"Charlie Buckton and we weren't really talking" Brax snapped in response.

"Wow, defensive. Is she not interested in you, mate? Ah well, the intelligent ones never are," he joked, "I wouldn't take it too hard".

"Funny Heath and I could get her if I wanted to." Brax responded.

"Yeah right. I'll give you a $100 if you get her to go out with you if you're so sure."

"Fine, consider it done" Brax said.

"Okay, if you're so confident get her to go out with you and say you're a couple." Heath challenged.

"That's a bit cruel isn't it?" Brax asked.

"Look if you don't think you can do it that's alright, I don't think you can do it either."

"No, I can do it," Brax decided, "You coming in? We need to talk business."

"You sure you want to talk in there with Angelo around?" Heath asked, uncertainly.

"Yeah, we don't need to worry about him anymore. He knows what he's got to lose."

Charlie and Ruby had a tradition of going out together on a Sunday afternoon, after all the homework was complete to discuss what had happened the previous week and what was planned for the following week. It was a tradition they'd had since Charlie came to live with her Godmother at the age of five and it was one they'd found hard to let go. When they first moved, after Ruby's mother had died, it used to be a walk on the beach and an ice cream but as Ruby had grown older, and Charlie's wealth had increased, they'd started going to restaurants or spas instead. This day was different though, it was exactly 10years since they'd moved here and Charlie thought that it needed a whole day's celebration rather than an afternoon's.

Charlie pulled her Mercedes into the drive and wandered into the house.

"Sweetheart," she called up the stairs "Are you ready?" There was a sudden scrabbling upstairs and then there was silence. Picking up a bat from beside the front door, Charlie crept silently upstairs. The doors of her bedroom and of the bathroom were open, but Ruby's was closed shut. That was strange, Ruby always kept her door open, she liked to have the light from the landing shining into her room. Mustering all the courage she could find in her body, Charlie crept a little further forward, a little further and then a little further until she was stood right outside the door. Breathing in deeply, raising the bat in her left hand, Charlie Buckton hit the door with her hip and it burst open.

"Aaaaaaarghhhhh!," she screamed barging in to the room, bat above her head, not expecting what she was about to see.

"Hang on,Ruby?" Charlie swore her eyes were deceiving her because laid in her Goddaughter's double bed was a half naked teenage boy and a very, very naked Ruby.

"Right." She said, unable to find a fitting response, "Ruby put your robe on, you," She gestured at the boy and asked civilly, " Out now and put your shirt back on. Can you please wait on the landing while I have a quick word with my Goddaughter?" He scurried past her, holding his shirt to his chest. Charlie turned her gaze on the now covered up Ruby.

"Who was that?" Charlie asked quietly, her voice little over a whisper.

"He's my boyfriend." Ruby answered, unable to make eye contact.

"What's his name?" she asked, just as quietly.

"Casey Braxton." She answered after a pause, staring at her feet.

"Braxton? As in the dodgy Braxton's?" Charlie's voice rose dangerously

"This is why I didn't tell you. I knew you'd over react!" Ruby's voice rose with her Godmother's.

"Over react? Ruby, let's put this into perspective, I've just found you in bed with some guy I didn't even know you were seeing and now you're telling me he's a Braxton, as in the family I've warned you about a million times." Shaking her head in disbelief she added, "Right, put some clothes on I'm going to drop him off".

"Can I come?" she asked hopefully.

"Fine, but only because I don't want you out of my sight anymore or you might decide to jump in bed with some other guy while I'm not looking." With one last disbelieving look at her Goddaughter she closed her bedroom door and escorted Casey downstairs where she left him in the living room as she went into the kitchen for some silent time. She did not understand; how could she not know that the girl, who was as good as her daughter, had a boyfriend and was sleeping with him? So many questions crossed her mind and she didn't know if she had the strength to ask them or perhaps more to the point, the strength to hear the answers. Ruby burst into the kitchen with a tentative smile which Charlie was unable to return. Storming past her goddaughter, she picked up her car keys from the sideboard and called for those two to come.

The car journey to the restaurant was awkward, at the very least. Silence passed between them all with each person looking out of a different window, no one meeting anyone else's eye, each too occupied with their own thoughts. Charlie reversed into her space for the second time today, how could her plans have gone so wrong? She waited for the two teenagers to emerge out of the car and turned around to see the two of them, hand in hand, looking at her and smiling. Sighing and shaking her head, Charlie led the way into the restaurant that she'd been in far too frequently recently.

Brax was sat in the corner reading over the books and inputting the relevant information into the laptop when he saw Charlie storming in, angrier than he could ever remember seeing her. He raised his head in acknowledgement of her arrival and smiled.

"Well hello, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that this isn't a visit for pleasure?" He joked smiling.

"No, not exactly. I'm guessing you know this teenage boy who's hiding behind me like a scared little girl?" she said, gesturing behind her.

"Yeah, I was going to ask what you were doing with my brother. You two aren't together are you because I understand the whole cougar thing is hot right now, but I think there might be a law prohibiting this behaviour Charlie. " he replied in mock sincerity.

"Darryl do I look like I'm in the mood for your stupid jokes? I've just gone home to pick up my Goddaughter to take her out and instead found your brother in bed with her!" Brax started to laugh and slapped his younger brother on the back.

"Nice one mate, glad to see you're finally starting to become a man." Turning back to Charlie he said, "What do you want me to do about it? They can do what they want, if they want to sleep with each other who are we to stop them? It's their choice." Brax returned to his accounting. "Was there something else Charlie, because I'm kind of busy right now?" Charlie looked at him with a look of repulsion etched across her young face.

"You two, go get something to drink, I'm sure you're thirsty after your strenuous activities" she said throwing some money into their hands. "I want to have a little conversation with Darryl here." She turned around to face him, fury coursing through her body.

"Can we go for a walk?" she asked.

"Lilly, I'm kind of working right now." He answered, shaking his head.

"And considering I'm the one who signs the cheque at the end of the month I think it would be in your interests to do what I ask, don't you?"She threatened. Sighing deeply, Brax logged off the laptop and followed Charlie out of the restaurant.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you to everyone who's reviewing or added this story to their favourites and story alerts. I really, really appreciate it! I love getting revies and getting your feedback so I knnow if you're enjoying where I'm taking or if you want something particular included, so please, please review! _

_This chapter should explain a lot about Charlie and why she appears so cold sometimes...I hope you enjoy!_

They walked in silence for a few hundred metres down the beach and then reaching a bench, they stopped and sat down.

"I'm not happy."Charlie stated seriously.

"Really? I hadn't noticed by the fact you've dragged me half a mile up a beach. Look, I realise it's not something anyone wants to walk in on but they're kids, that's what they do isn't it?"He asked, staring out at the blue waves as they crashed against the feet of screaming children, holding hands with their respective parents. "At some point you've got to let them go and let them make mistakes for themselves." He turned his head around to face her.

"Ten years ago today we moved here, from the other side of the world, which means that Ruby's mother, Carrie, died exactly eleven years ago today. She was 13years old when she had Ruby and she looked after her for the first four and a half years of her life, before she passed her over to me because she was too ill to look after her anymore.." Charlie said, her face masked.

"How did she die?" he asked quietly.

"Cancer. Cervical Cancer" she answered slowly; a single tear rolled its way down her cheek, the only form of emotion on a guarded face. Brax gently wiped it away with his finger, before tentatively placing his hand upon hers. He entwined his hand amongst her long, slim fingers and felt a jolt of electricity travel up his spine. "I know it's not hereditary but what if she's prone to it? What if the same thing will happen to her? I can't lose her, Darryl, I promised to look after her, I gave Carrie my word." Her ordinarily cool voice broke as more tears rolled down her face, the emotions that she'd kept bottled up inside for so long finally coming out. She gripped his hand tighter, relishing the sense of safety and security he had over her. Charlie lost count of how long they sat there, it was so peaceful with the birds flying overhead, children giggling and the waves crashing in and out.

"What happened to Ruby's father? Did he not want custody of her after her mother passed away?" Brax asked carefully, not wanting to upset the beautiful woman sat next to him. Charlie pulled her hand out of his grasp, as a cold breeze blew straight into her wet face, breaking her out of her reverie. She used her hands to wipe away the tears that she had shed, regaining her ordinarily professional composure. She tucked her brown waves behind her ears and breathed in slowly.

"No, Kyle didn't want anything to do with her. He saw her before Carrie died but decided afterwards that he didn't want anything to do with her anymore. Neither did any of her family. Carrie had already been disowned by her family for getting pregnant so young and when we found out she was ill, they blamed Ruby." Charlie answered, staring at anything apart from Brax's face; she couldn't believe how much she'd confided in him, more so than anyone else. "Carrie knew her family didn't want her and so she asked me to look after her. I couldn't say no could I?"

"How old were you?"

"I saw her at the weekends for the first half a year after Carrie died and then when I turned 18 I gained full custody of her." Charlie replied quietly.

"Wow. So why did you move out here? Didn't you have school or uni?" Brax asked a shocked expression on his face.

"I'd completed my first term of university and was working evenings, mornings and weekends so I didn't get much time with Ruby. Luckily, I had some savings and Carrie had left me some money to pay for nursery but it was difficult, I knew it wasn't going to work out. I was in university when a tutor mentioned to me a course somewhere else that was part time. I decided it was our best option, there was nothing really for us at home and so I packed our bags and left. I've never looked back since." Charlie smiled at the memory of arriving here, and seeing the sea sparkle in the sunlight, finally knowing she made the right choice.

"So, you moved here? Completed your degree and then bought a restaurant?" He asked, still looking slightly confused.

"I worked in the restaurant as a waitress while completing my degree. I helped the lady who owned it out, you know, thinking of ideas, taking it into the modern age. When she died she left it to me and so I took it over." Charlie explained.

"Right, so how come you have enough money to hire people and buy other businesses now? I mean, I've looked at the books and the restaurant makes money but surely not enough for you to have a Mercedes, fancy clothes and a lovely home?"

"Well I looked after the restaurant at weekends and evenings but during the day I worked as a police officer." She answered smiling at the bemused expression on Brax's face.

"You're a police officer?" He asked in disbelief.

"I'm a police offer. I got a good job and because there were only two of us I was able to save up quite a bit of money and have expanded my business since. It sounds a lot more planned than it was," she added, seeing the expression on Brax's face, "It was basically trial and error."

"Well that makes sense; you do always seem to know information about everyone." Brax laughed, "Look, I'll talk to Case, see how serious he is about Ruby, but my brother's a good kid and I think she's his first if that' s any consolation."

"It's not," Charlie answered "But I appreciate it all the same. We should probably get going, the restaurant's not going to run itself." The pair got up and walked back to the restaurant in silence where they met Ruby and Casey.

"Casey, we need to have a chat after I finish work all right." Brax said seriously to his brother. "I might see you later yeah Charlie?" A hopeful smile spread across his face as her turned to look at her.

"Yeah, maybe." She smiled in response. Turning to look at her Goddaughter, she gestured for her to get up, "Come on Rubes, we need to get a coffee and have a little chat. Thank you Darryl." She said, turning back to face him. Charlie put a warm arm around her Goddaughter's shoulders as they walked out of the restaurant.

"So, how long have you two been an item for?" Charlie asked her Goddaughter, in their favourite local diner.

"6weeks. I know you're angry I didn't tell you Charlie and I'm sorry that I didn't." Ruby answered, staring into the contents of her half empty mug.

"I don't get it. I thought we were close, I thought that you knew that you could tell me anything." Charlie responded, sadness visible in her eyes.

"We are!" Ruby replied emphatically, "I just didn't know how to tell you, I mean, you were away and I know you didn't like his family and I guess I was just scared you'd be disappointed."

"I'm disappointed that you didn't think you could tell me something that important. You know that you can trust me right, or tell me anything without judgement?" Charlie asked, staring intently into Ruby's face.

"I'm sorry; I regret not telling you, honestly."

"So, what happened today?" Charlie asked, trying to keep her calm composure.

"It was our first time; I wasn't expecting you to come home so soon." Ruby explained.

"No kidding." Charlie replied, sarcastically. Ruby laughed in response. "Were you guys um, were you, safe?" Charlie asked, leaning her head in close.

"Yes, of course we were" Ruby exclaimed, "How stupid do you think I am?"

"I don't think you're stupid, I just know that it's easy to make mistakes and I don't want that for you." Charlie answered firmly.

"What you mean like my mother did?" Ruby said, her voice rising dangerously.

"That's not fair and you know it. You know that I'm glad she had you because otherwise we would never have had this lovely life but I'm not going to tell you it was easy. Raising a child when you're young and have little money isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination." Charlie answered angrily, the tempo of the conversation quickening. "I don't want to see you get in the same situation."

"Well you didn't turn out so bad." Ruby responded, grudgingly.

"Thanks, I think, but I was lucky, I got given a great opportunity. If I hadn't been given the chance to move out here, I'm not sure what we would've done but I'm positive that our life wouldn't have been so comfortable". Charlie took Ruby's hand in hers and smiled at her Goddaughter. "How about we have Casey around for dinner? So I can get to know him."

"I'd really like that. Hey, maybe we could invite Brax; you seem to like him a little bit Charlie?" She said, raising her eyebrows. "I looked out of the window when you two disappeared and saw you were holding hands."

"Haven't I told you it's not nice to spy on people and there's nothing going on between us anyway!" Responded Charlie defensively.

"But you want there to be Charlotte Buckton, I never knew you liked the bad boy." She giggled.

"Oh shush Ruby or I'll ground you for having boys in your room" Charlie joked.

"Defensive, if you're worried about me you shouldn't be. I think you need to do something," She laughed, "Or someone!"


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey, sorry it's taken me so long to update, everything has been so hectic; I'll try be better in future! Thanks for all the reviews and everything, it really makes my day to get them, so please carry on!_

_Anyways, here is-eventually- the next chapter! I hope you enjoy _

_READ AND REVIEW! :DDDDDDDD_

"Bianca, hey." Charlie said, standing up to hug her best friend. "How are you?" She asked as Bianca sat down in the chair between her and Ruby.

"I'm good, thanks. Well, actually I'm not, I need a chat. Can we go grab a drink and talk?" She asked, her eyes pleading.

"Er, I'd love to but I've got to drop Ruby off at home, I don't like her walking home alone." Charlie answered.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could go round to Casey's tonight. He's still at the restaurant and Brax is giving him a lift home, so I'd be safe and everything. Please Charlie, I promise I'll be safe and let you know when I'm on my way home and everything." Ruby interrupted, turning to face her Godmother.

"Is that alright with Brax though Rubes?"

"I'm sure it will be, look we can go over there and ask now, and at the same time you can invite Brax around for dinner tomorrow night, yeah?" A scheming smile spreading across her face.

"Fine, but I'm only doing this for you alright?" Charlie answered.

"Sure sure, I get it, you're not interested blah blah blah." Ruby waved her hand in the air.

"I'm not!" Charlie cried, vehemently.

"Ah yes Charlie, because no one would be interested in a tall, sexy, dark haired guy who so clearly has a thing for you." Bianca interrupted, smirking.

"He does not!" Her voice getting higher.

"Well, how about we go see him and find out." Bianca answered, raising her eyebrows at Ruby.

Ruby stomped her way to the front of Angelo's, with Bianca and Charlie trailing behind.

"Hey Rubes, you alright?" Brax asked smiling at the young girl in front of him. Charlie and Bianca appeared behind her, "Hey Charlie. You alright Bianca?" Bianca smiled up at him as Charlie inspected the number of customers in the restaurant.

"Has it been busy tonight Darryl?" Charlie asked, fixing Brax with a stare.

"Yeah, quite. Nothing I can't handle though, ay." He answered smirking, causing Ruby and Bianca to snigger.

"Is Angelo here?" She continued, attempting to ignore Ruby and Bianca.

"Um no, not tonight." He replied, glancing at Bianca and Ruby. "Anyway, it's good to see you; I wasn't expecting you to come back tonight."

"Yeah I wasn't planning on it; I just needed to ask you something."

"Oh yeah?" He raised his eyebrows, "Ask away." A grin spread across his face as he stared into Charlie's face, noticing once again her shockingly blue eyes. He didn't think he could remember seeing any eyes as beautiful as hers in his life before.

"Would it be okay if Ruby went home with you and Casey tonight?" She asked, swearing she saw a glimpse of disappointment flash across his face.

"Uh yeah, of course. I mean, if that's fine with you?" He replied, looking down.

"I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't would I?" She teased, smirking at him.

"No, I guess not." He laughed, smiling at her.

"And there was something else wasn't there Charles?" Ruby prompted, elbowing her Godmother in the stomach.

"Um yeah, Ruby and I have been talking and we wondered if you and Casey wanted to come around for dinner tomorrow night?" Charlie asked, a slight blush rising up her cheeks.

"You want me and Casey to have dinner with you?" Brax repeated, shocked.

"Well, I figured I should probably get to know Casey, and you're his guardian right? I mean I suppose I could've invited Heath…" She trailed off, a smirk playing at the corner of her lips.

"No, I think it's a good idea." He responded eagerly.

"I bet you do." Bianca muttered under her breath, so only Ruby could hear.

"Okay then that's sorted, we'll see you both tomorrow night at say, 7? Is that alright with you?" Charlie decided.

"Yeah, that's perfect. Anyway, I should probably go, get these two home. Casey is in the office doing some work Rubes, if you want to go get him." He gestured behind him, in the direction of the office.

"I will see you tomorrow night then Darryl, can we have two white wines please before you leave?" She looked up at him underneath her long, dark eyelashes and smiled flirtatiously.

"Uh sure." He gulped, "Who am I to argue with the boss?"

"Yey, you're finally getting it!" Charlie exclaimed grinning.

"You shouldn't do that to the poor guy!" Bianca muttered grinning as Brax turned around to get the ladies their drinks.

"I don't know what you mean." She replied innocently, before smiling widely at Brax as she took away their glasses, "See you tomorrow night Darryl."

"So what's up Bianca?" Charlie asked, finding the pair a table at the side of the restaurant.

"I've uh, I've ended it with Liam." She answered, looking down at the glass of wine in her hands.

"Oh my god, Bianca are you alright?"

"No, not really, but I will be, in the end, I hope." She replied, looking her friend fully in the face, "I just couldn't carry on with it anymore; I'm sick of the secrecy and him going behind my back."

"No, it's better this way. Liam can do what he needs to do and you can do what you need. Hey, you can join me in the world of solitude." Charlie laughed.

"Is this before or after you're done with Brax?" Bianca giggled.

"There is no me and Brax Bee." Charlie sighed, again.

"Yet." Bianca responded.

Charlie took a while choosing her jewellery the next night. She was looking through her box and realised that these pieces of gold, silver or string were far more than objects, they all held a memory. She picked up the silver cross she'd been given as a young girl by Ross, there was a scratch on the back where it had got caught going down the basin plug. She found the decorative sliver ring she'd been given by Angelo, a promise ring he'd said, to show his love and devotion to her. She wondered now, on reflection, if this was where they'd gone wrong. She never wanted devotion or rings to promise it, she just wanted the truth and respect, not jewellery. She found the necklace she was looking for, a single silver chain that held a beautifully carved silver heart locket. Opening it carefully so as not to break it, she found a tired and mangled photo of a young girl with dark hair and electric green eyes that still managed to shine in a 15year old photograph, holding a very small newborn baby. She smiled at the memory; Carrie had been in labour for over 24hours before Ruby decided to make an appearance. She remembered Carrie asking her to look at her iPod and see what song it had been stopped on. It was the Kaiser chiefs- Ruby, Charlie told her smiling. She remembered Carrie looking down at her baby girl and saying 'Hello Ruby', a smile spreading over her young, tired face as her baby opened her eyes to say hello to the world. It was a beautiful moment, a moment that no amount of money or success could ever equal, it was a moment where a never faltering love was obtained from two parties, through a single look. No word could ever explain it.

Charlie put the locket around her neck and checked her appearance in the mirror. Her black dress finished just above the knee and it clinched in around the waist making it seem even smaller than normal. Her brown hair was down, and had been gently curled so it fell relaxed at her shoulders. Her lips were painted a subtle pink, and her cool, blue eyes defined with black kohl, making them stand out even more than normal. She looked beautiful, although she'd never be able to see it. When she looked in the mirror she still saw the nervous young girl with braces, glasses and no self confidence. Charlotte Buckton always felt as though she was trying to catch up, forever trying to be the same as other people although she gave off the impression of confidence and self satisfaction. She felt like she was hiding. Hiding who she was, she lived in the continuous fear of being found out, of people realising she wasn't brilliant, she wasn't perfect, that she was wasn't someone to be put up on a pedestal to be admired and applauded. She was no better than anybody else.

Charlie walked downstairs into her kitchen, finding Ruby picking at the fridge.

"Rubes do you really need that? We have a big dinner..." Charlie lectured, causing Ruby to roll her eyes.

"Ooh look at you, all dressed up and sexy." Ruby exclaimed, taking into account her Godmother's full appearance, "Brax won't be able to keep his eyes off you, or his hands!" Ruby waltzed out of the kitchen, grabbing a handful of biscuits, before rushing off upstairs leaving Charlie to answer the newly rung door.

"Oh god." Charlie muttered under her breath, fluffing out her hair, before walking out of the kitchen towards the door to greet her guests. She opened her door to find two good looking guys, stood there, smiling.

"Hello ," She said smiling slightly at them both, her eyes scanning Brax's appearance. She took in his well fitting black shirt, noticing he'd undone a few of the buttons at the top of his shirt, revealing a small portion of a toned, muscular chest.

"Hello," Brax replied, looking awkward, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good thanks, do you want to come in?" She asked, opening the door wider so they could both step in.

"Uh yeah, that would be good." He answered smiling, stepping into the hallway. He gazed around at the cream walls, filled with pictures of Ruby at different ages, some with her Godmother and others by herself. He noticed on the side table a picture of Charlie though, with a man he didn't recognise. They were both smiling and seemed genuinely happy. They both had a hand on her stomach. He felt, surprising himself a little, jealous at this unknown man, he was very good looking and Charlie was looking at him adoringly. He'd never seen her look at anyone like that.

"What you looking at?" Charlie asked, breaking him out of his reverie.

"Uh, nothing, you just have a lot of pictures." He replied, quickly breaking his gaze from the photo.

"Did you want to go into the lounge? Ruby should be down in a second." Darryl responded with a smile and followed her and Casey into the lounge, just as Ruby came bursting through the doorway, greeting Casey with a kiss. He responded by snaking his arms around her waist, pulling her in close to him.

"Hey Brax," Ruby said, noticing he was there, winking she asked "Has my Godmother offered you a drink yet?" Charlie shot Ruby a furious look whilst Brax laughed nervously.

"Uh no, she hasn't, we've only just arrived though."

"Aw no that's a shame. Case and I really want to finish watching the film we were watching the other day. Hey, maybe you and Charlie could use this time to get to know each other some more?" Ruby carried on, her expression becoming craftier with each word.

Charlie turned around and smiled nervously at Darren, as the teenagers resumed their film, "Can I get you anything to eat or drink?"

"A coffee would be nice if you're offering," He replied.

"I'll go make it. Anyway, I've been thinking about your offer." Charlie led Brax into the kitchen.

"Which offer was that?" Brax asked, leaning up against the worktops.

"You said you had ideas about improving my restaurant, I'm interested in what they are."

"You doubt there's any room for improvement?" He asked noticing her raised eyebrows.

"I disagree completely actually, everything can be improved, nobody and nothing is perfect. Believe me I know that."

"Oh I don't know about that," he replied, staring intently into her face, "Some things are pretty damn close to perfect if you ask me." Charlie turned her head to hide her quickly reddening cheeks. "Did you actually want to hear my ideas then?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want to hear Darryl. Anyway, why do you sound so surprised? I'm not that terrifying am I?" She asked innocently, whilst handing him his cup of strong, black coffee.

"Nah, you're not too bad for my brother's Godmother/legal guardian/adoptive mother."Brax laughed, winking at her.

"I'm pretty awesome actually, it's been widely acknowledged." Charlie answered in mock sincerity.

"We must move in different circles then,"

"Ouch, just wield that knife in a bit more," Charlie replied, causing them both to laugh lightly.

In the next room, Ruby turned the volume on the tv down a little.

"Hey, Rubes I was listening to that." Casey cried in protest, trying to grab the remote out of his girlfriend's tightly gripped hand.

"Shush, Casey and listen. Do you hear that?" She whispered urgently.

"What am I supposed to be listening to? All I here is those two laughing and talking."

"Exactly, our plan is starting to work." A crafty smiled spread back across her face.

"Your plan." He corrected while successfully stealing the television remote out of her hand, turning the volume up, and tickling her to the point she burst into fits of giggles.

Recognising the sound of Ruby's giggles, it was Lilly's turn to laugh. Noticing this, Brax smiled to himself.

"Are you starting to think we Braxton's aren't that bad then, Charlie?"

"No, I'm just starting to think your younger brother isn't too bad." She replied smirking, "I'm still not that sure about you."

"You know he learnt his moves and charm from his older brother right?" Brax pointed out, his eyes twinkled and his eyebrows rose.

"Oh from Heath, yeah Heath seems to have a good side to him." She responded grinning.

"I'm hurt, you don't think my moves are worth learning?"

"I'm sure your moves have got you very far Darryl, just look at most girls in the restaurant."

"Oh no, I haven't even used my moves on them yet, you'd know if I had." His eyebrows rose a little more causing Charlie to laugh even more. "Yep, just keep laughing. That's fine; you're just slowly killing my ego there."

"I don't think anything can kill your ego Darryl," She replied, attempting to stifle her laughter, "Especially when you have such natural confidence in your 'moves'."

"Hey, these moves have been tried and tested."

"On whom exactly?" She questioned, doubtful.

"Do you really want to know?" Charlie just smiled in response and shook her head in disbelief.

"Anyway back to the main question, what are your ideas for improving my restaurant? After all this build up I'm expecting them to be brilliant so no pressure." Charlie joked, causing Brax to chuckle softly.

"Well, I couldn't help but notice that you have a live music stage but I've never seen any acts on it, I was thinking that there must be some local guys that could use it as a platform to drum themselves up some success." He replied, slightly nervously as he noticed the intense glare he was under from Charlie. "Uh Charlie why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh sorry, I was doing psycho stare at you wasn't I? Don't take it personally, it's just in my line of work, a lot of the people I speak to tend to be arses or just plain useless so I'm always suspicious of people who are trying to get involved within my business. Hence, I end up staring them down like a dog."

"That makes sense, so what do you think? I have other ideas as well but I don't suppose you want me to bore you with them now do you?" He asked tentatively.

"No, it' a good idea, to be honest with you I'm not sure why we don't use that stage more. I mean, I installed it for the exact purpose you just suggested and it was popular for a while but when I gave Angelo the role of manager I just left him really to do what he wanted. Anyways, it turned out Angelo wanted to play dance music continuously."

"I don't think him playing the dance stuff is bad necessarily but it doesn't exactly make your place stand out. I think he's just hoping it'll attract people to dance and have fun or whatever and buy more drinks but people don't want to do that every day of the week, especially when they can get the bus into the city and go to a club if they want to dance. I've been asking around and they'd rather the restaurant kept that relaxed feel rather than being turned into a wannabe nightclub. It doesn't really fit the target market of our area either does it?" He finished confidently leaving Charlie looking surprised.

"Wow, you've clearly thought about this haven't you?"

"Well yeah, I'm not planning on spending the rest of my life surfing you know? And I told you that I had no intention of wasting your time, I meant it." He smiled gently at Charlie who returned it.

"Well I'm glad to hear it. Look, I'll spread the idea around, see if anyone's up for it and then I'll leave it to you."

"Leave it to me?" He repeated, his turn to be surprised.

"Hey it's your idea and you seem to know what you're talking about, unless you don't want to?" She replied, taken aback.

"No of course I'm interested; I was just a bit surprised, only a few days you were accusing me of trying to 'weasel' my way into your business and now you're letting me actually be in charge of something. Won't Angelo be annoyed as well?"

"Well put it down to your 'moves', they do seem work," She laughed, "Don't you worry about Angelo, he needs to remember that I'm in charge not him and he's given me more than one reason to get rid of him."

"Then why don't you? Get rid of him I mean?"

Charlie rose her eyebrows incredulously, "Why do you think?"

"Well I thought you weren't in love with him any more so why you should care about him now?"

"You've never been in love Darryl have you?" She asked, "I can't just simply get rid of him because we don't love each other anymore, he's still good, most of the time, at his job, and I obviously still care for him. I don't want to see him have to suffer and go without, not when I can help."

"I don't see what my being in love's got to do with anything. I know enough to say that after the way he treated you, the way he still treats you, he doesn't deserve your job, let alone you. He was a complete twat to you; I don't know how you can still be around him!"

"He's my employee and I'm not unprofessional enough to fire him because I have personal problems with him, yes I don't like the way he treated me, I hate the way he treated me, I hate the way he made me feel so weak, so foolish and I hate all those lies he told me that I bought into, and that I completely believed, but more than anything, I hate how stupid I was, for thinking things were fine, and that's why I can't get rid of him. Because it's just as much my fault as it is his." Charlie responded passionately.

"Charlie, what Angelo did to you was his fault, how could it be yours? You are beautiful, you are clever and you are kind, you're every man's dream and if Angelo couldn't see that then that's his fault." Brax stated gently.

"No, I didn't make enough time to see him, I didn't make enough time for us. I worked too much."

"I'm sorry but whose fed you that line Charlie? You are practically a mother to a 15 year old teenager whilst still managing a load of businesses and working as a lawyer. Angelo knew you were a busy woman when he got with you, it didn't just happen overnight did it? You being busy isn't an excuse for him to go to Nicole." Darryl replied angrily, but not necessarily at Charlie.

"Are you alright Darryl? You sound very angry." Charlie asked, cautiously placing a hand on his upper arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just, look it doesn't matter." He shook off quickly.

"Hey," Charlie soothed, "What is it? Clearly something's got you upset?"

"It's just, I hate men who cheat on women. If there's one thing I can't abide it's cheats, all they do is bring the people around them down." He answered quietly.

"Personal experience?"

"Father. He was a twat, and my mum just bought into all of his lies, again and again and again. He left, eventually, leaving us all, Case was only three and Heath was only a little older. It was tough and needless to say we got into trouble and since then it's kind of been a downhill battle." He finished with a dry laugh.

"That sounds horrible, have you seen him since?" She asked cautiously, her hand still gently rubbing his upper arm.

"He tried to get in contact a few years ago but there was no way in hell I was letting him get near us. He wasn't there when we needed him so he can't just try waltz his way back into our lives."

"And your brothers, do they feel the same?"

"Casey trusted what I said but Heath, well Heath's just a bit weird. I think he resented me growing up, telling him what to do, 'pretending to be his father' as he put it. Anyway, he decided he wanted to meet his real father and I tried to stop him but he swore he knew what he was doing, but nevertheless it didn't end well, actually it ended with me paying an extortionate amount for a lawyer to get him off the drug charges his own father were responsible for." Brax recollected darkly.

"My God, that's horrible. What about your mum though, was she not involved in any of this?"

"What when she wasn't in prison or in some random's bed? My mother is a slag, plain and simple who quite often forgot that she had children or was too pissed to remember." He finished, shaking his head, "I don't know why I've just told you that, I've never told anyone before."

"Well, what can I say? I have moves of my own that just happen to be a lot more effective than yours." Charlie laughed, slowly removing her hand from his upper arm. He watched her moving her hand off his arm, but it did nothing to subside the tingly sensation he got whenever he was close to her. The pair smiled at each other tentatively for a few seconds, neither saying anything, just reflecting on the amount they had shared with each other, whether intentionally or not. Brax cautiously took a step closer to Charlie, closing the small gap between the pair when the door bell began to ring loudly, forcing her to walk out the room, flustered. She stood by the door for a few moments, trying to regain her composure, and straighten her head out.


	6. Chapter 6

_I'm so, so, so sorry for the huge wait! Exams have been crazy so I've been all over the place! Thanks to all of you who are still sticking with this story...hopefully things will start hotting up soon! Enjoy and review guys! :D_

"Who was at the door?" Ruby asked, as Charlie wandered back into the room.

"Just some kids asking for sponsorship." She replied avoiding Brax's fixing stare, becoming distracted with a dense fog of black smoke levitating out of the kitchen. She rushed in, her arms flipping animatedly in the air, and emerging with a singed and shrivelled black, roasted chicken.

"So, that kind of didn't work." She stated, to the laughter of everyone in the room.

"How about we just go to the restaurant then? May be a safer option to your cooking..." Brax joked, his eyes twinkling.

"Shut up!" Charlie cried, hitting his stomach, which she noticed was very hard, a blush rising in her cheeks. "Fine, let me go get my bag."

* * *

><p>An hour later, the four sat at their table in the corner of the restaurant laughing loudly.<p>

"I need to just go check something in the office," Brax said standing up, "Excuse me." Charlie's head turned around to watch the retreating figure, something that did not go unnoticed by Ruby.

"Sorry guys, I need to go to the toilet quickly." Casey rushed off towards the toilets after planting a light kiss on Ruby's cheek.

"So, you and Brax..." Ruby started immediately.

"Don't start Ruby." Charlie warned, her voice low.

"But, you two would be amazing together! The sexual tension between you two is actually unreal!" She grinned brightly.

"Rubes, he's a nice guy but it just wouldn't work out..."

"You don't have to marry the guy, just maybe relieve some of that tension..." Ruby suggested , raising her eyebrows. "Anyways, I'm going to go for a walk with Casey I think." Charlie shook her head before reaching for her glass and taking a sip of wine.

"They left you all alone?" Brax's soft voice queried from behind her.

"Yeah," Charlie chuckled, "I think I've been abandoned." Brax tentatively sat down in the chair opposite her.

"So, I wanted to thank you for tonight.." He started.

"For the burnt chicken?" She raised her eyebrows up at him.

"Nah," He laughed, "For inviting me and Case for dinner, I appreciate it." He answered sincerely.

"Well like I said, he makes Rubes happy so the least I can do is make the effort right?" She replied.

"Still, it would've been easy for you to judge us but you didn't..." He finished smiling.

"Ah you mean believing that you're a big, bad boy?" She smirked.

"You don't believe it?" He said leaning forward towards her. She hoped to God that he couldn't hear the quickening of her heartbeat as she caught a whiff of his aftershave.

"Nah, I think you're a big softy really." She replied coolly.

"Big maybe," He said smirking, "Softy not so much."

"Seriously? You're worse than your little brother..." She shook her head in mock disapproval.

"Actually, I'm a lot better than my little brother." He flashed her a quick grin, before grabbing her glass, "I shall go get you another drink Miss Buckton, can't have my favourite customer complaining about the service can I?" With a quick wink, he disappeared off to the bar leaving Charlie giggling like a schoolgirl.

Looking around the restaurant curiously, Charlie noticed some guy at the other end of the restaurant smiling right at her. He had tattooed arms and a roguish, surfer look about him.

"Hello beautiful, my friends and I couldn't help but notice such a gorgeous girl in our presence. Can we buy you a drink?" He said smoothly.

"Wow, as flattered as I am, I'm going to have to turn you down." Charlie replied sarcastically, with a smile.

"Oooh you're a fiery one aren't you? Luckily, I like my girls with a bit of passion."

"Be that as it may," Charlie responded, "I'm not one of your girls so my temperament is of little significance to you."

"Wow, gobby as well aren't you? How about a dance then?" He asked, persistent.

"Again, no thank you." She replied trying to get up.

"Come on, it'll be fun" He said, grabbing her waist and pulling her in close.

"HEATH! Leave her alone!" Yelled Brax from the bar.

"Oooh, looks like you have a knight in shining armour. My brother has always been a bit of a lady's man" Heath said, pulling Charlie in closer.

"Get the hell off me!"

"Heyhey, don't squirm, just say you'll come over there with me pretty, and I'll let you go." By this time Brax had managed to get behind his brother and was pulling him off Charlie hard, but his brother was having none of it. He turned round and punched Brax in the middle of the face only to turn back and have the side of his head met by Charlie's fist. He faltered backwards and tripped over the chair leg, onto the floor.

"Everyone out now please!" Charlie yelled, "OUT!" She pointed to the door before kneeling down on her knees next to Brax.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked tenderly.

"Me? Never better thanks." He answered jokingly.

"Shush, let me take a look, I've done a first aid course," she explained, "Can you get up?"

"Yeah" he said, getting to his feet. "Where's Heath gone?"

"He ran out when I turned around, I think he was scared of getting punched again or of me calling the police." Charlie answered. "Wait here for a moment; I've got a first kit in the back and no protests!" She added seeing him attempting to deter her. Charlie rushed off into the backroom and found the little red and white bag on the top shelf.

She found Brax sat at one of the tables opposite the door lost in his thoughts.

"Found it," she said, lifting the bag up high. He smiled in response. She sat down opposite him and turned his head gently round to face her. She dabbed the cotton wool in a little antiseptic and began dabbing it onto his cut face.

"Sorry, this might sting a little." She said, "So that was your brother huh?"

"Sadly, yeah," He laughed, "Sorry about him, he's a bit forward." It was Charlie's turn to laugh.

"Yeah, I noticed that. Thanks for cutting in then; won't he be angry at you though?" Charlie asked.

"You're welcome, anyway I think you were perfectly capable of taking care of him yourself, it's a nice right hook you've got there." He joked, "Well he probably won't be too pleased but he'll get over it. He's a big boy."

"Hm, that looks a lot cleaner now, it'll probably bruise over the next few days but you won't be needing stitches I don't think. Just make sure you keep it clean or it'll-"

"Get infected." He finished, "I know, I've been in a few fights in my life. So, you know first aid?"

"Yeah, I did it when I was younger; I just thought it would be useful." She explained modestly.

"Is there anything you can't do?" He asked incredulously, smiling.

"Plenty actually." She answered, looking into his cut face.

"I highly doubt that." Darren replied, cupping her face in his hand gently. His hand was warm against her cool skin and he smiled softly at her, leaning his head in forwards, closer to her. The corner of his lips twitched upwards in a small smile as he felt her soft breath only centimetres away. He noticed a look of apprehension on her beautiful face as he stroked a finger down her cheek. She didn't pull away though. Brax pushed his head a little further forward, his own lips brushing hers softly before she jumped back at the sound of a visitor blundering their way into the restaurant.

"Oh sorry, I didn't know you two were...I forgot my purse...I had to come get it" Ruby stammered awkwardly, but a small grin playing on her face at the compromising position she had just caught her Godmother in.

"It's okay Rubes, I was just going anyway. You'll need a lift won't you? Are you okay to close up Darryl?" Charlie asked, turning back.

"Yeah, sure." He answered, running his hand through his hair. Charlie smiled at him and then calling for Ruby to follow, the pair left the restaurant, leaving Brax alone banging his head softly against the wall.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry Charlie but what was that? What happened to not liking him or not trusting him or whatever?" Ruby asked incredulously when they reached the car.<p>

"It was nothing; we just got caught up in the moment."

"Right, so what would have happened if I hadn't walked in?"

"Nothing, I don't know. Look, nothing happened so can we just drop it?" Charlie snapped.

"Don't like him," Ruby scoffed, "Well whatever you say, we definitely know he likes you."

"No we don't. We don't know anything." Ruby started to laugh in disbelief at her ordinarily extremely intelligent Godmother

"It's not funny, I've got to face him tomorrow." Charlie said seriously.

"Don't worry; things like this always have a habit of working themselves out in the end." Ruby said comfortingly.

* * *

><p>Charlie avoided going into the restaurant for the next few days, instead she worked from home, doing the admin work she despised doing. She eventually though decided that she needed to get out of the house. She put on her bikini and threw her running gear on top; she thought she could go for a run and then a swim in the sea to straighten her head out.<p>

She ran the mile from her house to the beach with her earphones in, unaware to anything that surrounded her, just the way she liked it. She loved the force of the wind against her face, her hair tied back and blowing from side to side, and her music playing uninterrupted and only audible to her. She reached the beach and wandered into the club where she opened her locker and left her clothes and iPod. She wandered out in her bikini, retying her hair and looking out into the distance when she suddenly walked into Brax.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Charlie explained, avoiding eye contact.

"Don't worry about it; I haven't seen you around in a while." Brax replied. "Have I done something wrong?" He asked playfully.

"No of course not, I've just had a lot of paperwork to catch up on."

"Right and you couldn't have done any of this in the restaurant?" He asked.

"Well it didn't really have anything to do with it."

"So it had nothing to do with what happened between us then?"

"Nothing happened between us Darryl." Charlie replied, looking fully into his face.

"Okay, whatever you say. So are you going for a swim now?" Brax asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, I thought it would clear my mind. How about you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm going for a surf, I haven't had a chance in a while and the waves are really good today. " He answered smiling. "Do you want to walk down together?"

"Sure." She answered smiling. "How's the restaurant? Has Angelo been in?"

"Alright. Yeah he has, why?"

"He's my manager, I like to keep tracks on him." She grinned.

"Right. So it's not because you're still interested in him?" Brax asked, his turn to avert her gaze. Charlie laughed incredulously.

"No, it's not. Angelo and I are over and I want him to be happy. I simply wanted to know if he'd been leaving you with all the work whilst I wasn't there to keep an eye on him. Why are you so tetchy?" She replied, still half laughing.

"Okay, that's good. I'm glad you're not interested in him." He said, smiling at her.

"You are?" She questioned, raising her eyebrows, "Why?"

"Well because...Because...You know...it would just be really awkward at the restaurant if you were still interested in him and he moves on or whatever."

"Okay, well thanks for your concern but I assure you, Angelo and I are over. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go for a swim. Have a good surf Darryl."

Shaking her head, Charlie jogged away from Brax and into the sea, where she began to swim, feeling her mind beginning to clear. Everything inside of her felt so messed up, all her emotions had intertwined like pieces of ivy, and were locking around her heart, squeezing her insides. She wasn't sure why she felt so confused or what it was she was even confused about but she knew that hiding in her house or taking long jogs wouldn't help. Just like everything else, she would have to deal with whatever it was face on. First off though, she decided as she was wandered out of the sea, she needed a good, strong cup of coffee.

She picked up a take away coffee from a local cafe and grabbed her bag and clothes from the locker and went to sit on the beach. She took her book out of her bag and tried to read a few pages but she was unable to concentrate due to a lot of noise coming from the shore. She lifted her head out of her book and looked out at the sea and saw a group of surfers riding the waves. They were receiving a lot of attention from a group of people who were stood out at the shore watching. Charlie, interested in why there was so much excitement about some men surfing, walked over there.

"Hey, what are you guys all doing here?" Charlie asked a random man in blue board shorts.

"We're watching those guys out there. They don't normally surf here but they're amazing. The guy at the front, Darryl Braxton, is one of the best surfers in the country and he can do things on a surfboard that even some professionals can't do." Charlie looked out in amazement at the man in the centre, who was flying off the edge of a wave at immense speed, and wondered how she didn't know that surfing was such an important part of his life. She knew it was his hobby- it was every River Boy's hobby- but she never realised he was so good at it! She supposed they'd never really spoken about him, they'd always spoken about her or Angelo or Ruby or anyone else really.

"Wow, he's really good." She replied. Overhearing Charlie's conversation, a woman wandered over to join in.

"And he's gorgeous," the woman added smiling, "Oh my gosh, he's coming, he's coming. How do I look?" She asked intently, beginning to hyperventilate. Charlie looked out to the sea and saw that he was indeed walking over. He saw Charlie and waved with one arm, the other securely holding his board. Sticking his board into the sand, he walked over to see Charlie.

"Hello again, were you spying on me?" He asked grinning.

"No, I just never realised you were such a keen surfer. You're really good!" She answered honestly.

"You sound surprised!" He replied, "I do other things in my life apart from annoying Angelo and working you know."

"Are you suggesting that I don't?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Not at all, why don't I buy you lunch and you tell me all about your hobbies and I tell you about mine?" He replied. "Just lunch and only as friends." He pressed, noticing Charlie's apprehension.

"Yeah, why not?" Charlie decided.

"Okay great." He said, a genuine smile spreading across his face. Charlie smiled back in response.

"Hey are you coming back in Brax?" A voice called from the group of people congregating at the shore. "Oh I see you're otherwise engaged." Heath said, smirking.

"Hey beautiful, nice bikini," He looked Charlie up and down, smiling.

"Wow your face looks a bit bruised Heath. Was that the punch I gave you or has some other woman decided you're a dirty sleazebag that needs to be put back in your box." Charlie said smoothly to Brax's laughter.

"Seriously Brax, can you please stop laughing at everything she says? It's embarrassing."

"Sorry little bro, I just find it funny that you got beaten up by a girl after all your macho crap."

"Whatever Brax. So, any of you girls want to have a little lesson from the master. I meant surfing by the way, but I'm sure I can teach a few of you something else later." He announced to the congregation on girls that had swarmed around him who giggled in response. Charlie shook her head in disbelief.

"So, where do you want to go?" Charlie asked Brax as they began walking back up the beach.

"Hm, I'm not too sure. You choose."

"Well, we can't exactly go in anywhere." Charlie pointed out but Brax looked confused, "I'm wearing a bikini and you're wearing a wetsuit, we can't exactly go sit in anywhere." Charlie explained, laughing.

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that, can you just wait there while I take my wetsuit off. It'll be a pain to try taking it off later."

"Yeah, sure." Charlie answered as she stopped walking and looked back at the congregation of girls that had deteriorated since Brax's departure. She noticed though that a lot of them had turned around to stare at her with a look of great jealousy.

"You realise that there are a whole group of girls over there staring at you Darryl?" She said half laughingly as she turned around to come face to face with a topless Brax, the water dripping off his abs and muscles; his trademark blood and sand tattoo stood out in the blazing sunlight. Her face blushed and she quickly turned around, embarrassed.

"Are there?" He asked, turning around to look at them and giving them a wave. The girls giggled hysterically and almost fell about themselves.

"Like you didn't know!" She answered animatedly.

"Are you jealous Charlie Buckton?" Brax asked beaming.

"You wish." Charlie replied, still avoiding his gaze.

"Why aren't you looking at me?" He said amused, "Am I making you feel uncomfortable?" He threw his shirt on.

"Should you be?" She responded as she turned around looking directly into his playful hazel eyes. "Do you want to get going then?"

_And there we have it finally-a chapter! :D I am so sorry about how long this has taken...my exams should be done in the next couple of weeks so then I promise updates will be more regular :D I hope you all enjoyed and please carry on your reviewing my lovelies! I appreciate any feedback! :D xx_


	7. Chapter 7

_It's an update guys! They should be more often now as my exams are done...YAY! Thanks to all of you have stuck with this story...I appreciate it more than I can say!_

_Please keep reading and reviewing!_

They walked up to the promenade and ambled along for a few minutes in silence, before Charlie asked "So how long have you surfed for?"

"I've surfed since I was a boy and never really kicked the habit. There's just an amazing sense of freedom when you're out there with nothing but the waves. I can't explain it." He answered grinning.

"Do you know what I've realised Darryl? I actually know hardly anything about you." Charlie stated seriously.

"Maybe there's not much to know." He replied mysteriously.

"I doubt that. Everybody's got their secrets, the hidden things that nobody knows...up until a point."

"Well, I hardly know a thing about you. I know you have a goddaughter, a business, a lot of money, oh, and you have good music taste."

"Well, that is quite a substantial amount Darryl." She replied, chuckling.

"No it tells me about Charlotte Buckton- the professional, not about Charlie Buckton- the woman." He answered.

"So, you think they're two different people?" Charlie asked interested.

"Yes, I do. I think that the person you are and the person you want people to think you are, are completely different."

"That's quite a big statement to make Darryl." Charlie responded, stopping in her tracks.

"It's right though, isn't it?" Brax surveyed Charlie's face for any sign of emotion.

"Why would I want people to think I'm something different to who I am? What would I have to hide?" Her gaze was fixed on Brax's face.

"That's what I don't know, but there's something isn't there? Because I never accused you of having something to hide, you brought that up." He answered, returning her gaze with equal intensity. Charlie broke his gaze and turned away, chuckling quietly.

"I wouldn't be likely to tell would I?" Charlie pointed out obviously.

"No, I guess not." He replied, smiling. "Honestly though, there isn't really that much to know about me."

"That I don't believe."

"Why not? Are you saying I have something to hide?" He asked slowly.

"I never accused you of having something to hide, you brought that up." Charlie repeated to Barx's laughter.

"Okay, that one I deserved!" He said laughingly, "Maybe some things are best left unsaid though. Maybe some things should stay hidden."

"Or perhaps you shouldn't be related to things that are hidden." She replied, looking into the distance seriously.

"Right, you mean my 'illicit dealings'?" He asked, his voice changing to something angrier.

"You're the one who's hiding things Darryl. If it's not illicit why's it worth hiding?" She responded, getting angry too.

"I could ask you the same question." He replied quietly.

"But we're not talking about me, are we?" She questioned.

"Is this why you said okay Charlie? So you could interrogate me about what I do in my spare time? Or what illicit dealings I'm involved in?" He turned in to look at her, an expression of hurt and anger mingled on his face.

"I don't know." She answered honestly after a long pause, "I want to trust you but..." She finished fading away.

"What? Because I have a reputation? Because so do you Charlie."

"Our reputations are a little different Darryl."

"Yes I'm a hard criminal that never tells the truth and can't be trusted and you're a careered obsessed, cold hearted bitch." He answered joking. "If yours isn't true, why should mine be?"

"Who says mine isn't true? I am a career obsessed, cold-hearted bitch." She stated.

"No you're not, but you like the idea that people think you are."

"And why would I like that?" She asked.

"Because it gives you an excuse to hide, to not be with anyone and to not do the things that you really want to do." He answered solemnly.

"I do the things I want to do and I be with the people that I want to be with!" She responded angrily.

"No you don't. Angelo has moved on and if you're over really over him, like you're always saying you are then why haven't you moved on?" He asked, "And when was the last time you did anything spontaneous, the last time you took a risk?"

"Maybe there's no one I want to be in a relationship with Darryl." She replied forcefully, "And I can't act like I did when I was 16 because I have responsibilities now. I have Ruby and a business to think of."

"Right if that's your story." He replied quietly.

"What?" She replied incredulously, "You don't believe me do you?"

"Well, it doesn't matter what I think." He murmured.

"No go on. Why don't I do the things I want to? Why do I need an excuse to hide who I really am? "

"Because you're afraid."

"Afraid? What on earth would I have to be afraid of?" Charlie responded vehemently.

"Only you know the answer to that Charlie." He uttered tenderly. Breaking the long silence, Charlie began to laugh. "What is it Charlie?" Brax asked, puzzled.

"Nothing it's just we've walked the whole way up this promenade, haven't eaten a thing and have managed to have a load of arguments. It's just kind of typical isn't it?" Brax joined in the laughter.

"Yeah, I guess it is." He conceded grinning. "Oh look there's Bianca and Angelo," Brax pointed to a pair of people walking towards them deep in conversation.

"Speak of the devil," Bianca said smiling as she approached Charlie and gave her a hug, "We were just talking about you."

"Is that so?" Charlie enquired.

"Yes, I need to talk to you about something; I kind of need a favour." Noticing Brax she added, "But I see you're busy right now and so I will catch you later. Hello Brax." She smiled at him and then glanced back at Charlie.

"Hey Bianca, are you alright?" He asked politely, "Hey Angelo, why aren't you in the restaurant?"

"I'm taking a break Brax, why aren't you there?" He replied coldly.

"I've got a day off today so I'm taking Charlie to lunch." He answered cheerily.

"Right with her in a bikini and you in board shorts. Spur of the moment decision was it?" He asked smirking.

"Well you'd know all about them wouldn't you Angelo?" Brax responded, with a fake smile.

"Okay calm down boys." Bianca interrupted.

"You're both working tonight though aren't you?" Charlie asked.

"Yes I am Charlie." Brax replied immediately.

"Actually, I'm not Charlie, I'm busy." Angelo answered slowly.

"But you're on the rota for tonight Angelo. What are you doing that is more important?" Charlie responded annoyed.

"I've got plans with Nicole tonight. I'm sorry but she'll be very upset if I don't come and I can't really upset her right now Charlie. You understand."

"Actually I'm afraid I don't. You see, the way I see it is that I'm paying you to do a job but you're not doing this job very well, you're not doing this job at all actually. And while you're still in my employment and I'm still the one signing your cheques, I would appreciate you actually doing your job. I don't understand you at the moment." Charlie replied coldly.

"I understand you're annoyed but I've made plans with Nicole and I can't back out now Charlie. She's very vulnerable at the moment."

"Vulnerable? Vulnerable? She's a grown woman, for God's sake; surely she can look after herself and not have you continuously holding her hand." Lilly snapped.

"Hey, that's my girlfriends you're talking about Lilly, and I intend on making her my fiancé very soon!" He retorted angrily.

"And you're my employee, this rota was set up two days ago and you didn't think you could tell me! This isn't the way I want my business to be run. Darryl doesn't have a problem working when he's asked to."

"Mine and Darryl's situations are a little different. And stop acting like he's a saint because he's not."

"Don't you dare start using your relationships as an excuse Angelo and don't take it out on Darryl. At least he works."

"Works? Charlie don't be so stupid, he doesn't work. He swans around like he owns the place, flirting with you and making phone calls to his dodgy friends. Seriously, Charlie if you're sleeping with him that's fine but don't go around telling me he's better than I am because he's not!"

"I beg your pardon?" Charlie asked, her voice suddenly going dangerously quiet, "Don't you dare call me stupid when all I'm doing is trying to find out why you're not able to work when you're supposed to be. I will compare you two as much as I want considering you're both my employees and I'm not sleeping with Darryl, not that it's any of your business if I am. For as long as you're in my employment, and he's following my instructions when you're not, I will be saying he's better than you because, in my eyes, he is."

"Well then I suppose our views are a little different aren't they?" He replied coldly, "What do you want to do about tonight?"

"I'll cover for you tonight with Darryl, but I'm only doing it tonight. Next time, you're going to give me some notice though or you may be finding yourself without the money to pay for your wedding. Got it?" Charlie answered angrily.

"Well now that's all sorted Angelo and I should probably be going. I'll come by the restaurant tonight Charlie to talk to you." Charlie said, interrupting the stony silence.

"Yeah of course Bianca. I'll be at the bar so just come and find me. Have a nice evening Angelo." Charlie answered quietly.

"Charlie. Brax." Angelo replied with a nod of the head. With that, he walked off down the promenade leaving Bianca behind.

"Wow, that's nice isn't it?" Bianca responded watching Angelo storm off, "He's got the hormones of a teenage girl."

"I know, men."Charlie replied sighing. Bianca laughed, gave her friend a hug and walked off in the direction that Angelo had just headed in.

"Are you okay Charlie?" Brax asked softly.

"Yeah, it's just he and I have had a slightly tense relationship since we broke up. It's just, well it's just...doesn't matter."

"No, it does. What is it?" Brax asked.

"It's just; we used to be really close and were great friends. Now, everything is so awkward and difficult." Charlie replied sadly.

"Hm, I suppose that's a lesson in not dating friends." He replied.

"I don't know, I want to be the friends with the person I'm dating though. I want to be able to talk to them."

"Yeah, I guess so. Why did you guys even break up?" He asked carefully.

"That's a story for another day, but it's pretty obvious considering he's planning on getting married isn't it? I might tell you in the future, depending on how good this food is because I'm starving." Charlie grinned up at him.

"Fair enough Miss Buckton. Shall we go get something to eat?" He asked smiling.

"Sure." She answered smiling.

When Charlie got home that afternoon, she found her answering machine flashing with 5missed calls. Smiling wryly at her sudden popularity she turned the answering machine on and began listening to her messages.

"Hey Miss Buckton, this is Detective Watson, we've had some new information that may be of interest to you. Before we progress with our investigation, there are a few things I'd like to discuss with you. I'll call you again later, Bye." The voice from the machine called put. She inspected the rest of her calls and saw they were all from the same number.

Charlie wasn't accustomed to getting calls from the station; she normally completed her routinely checks and left them to it. It must be quite a large case they've found otherwise they would never have contacted her; she tried not to be too involved within the politics. She believed the less people that knew about her continued connection to the police the better; a lot of tension could be caused if her connection became public knowledge. Nobody knew that she was the mysterious director who had inputted a load of money into the station when the government were making drastic cuts. All the locals knew was that someone from the city had put in a lot of money that had managed to keep the stations in the area open and working effectively. The real mystery though, was why anyone would want to invest such a sum into a few small town police stations and why they would not want to make their presence known. Charlie Buckton always had her reasons though, even if she was unwilling to share them with others.

"Oh great. Who's robbed the bank this time?" She muttered under her breath, to herself.

"Did nobody ever tell you Charles? Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness." Ruby joked, creeping up behind her Godmother.

"You gave me a turn Ruby. What are you doing home? I thought you were hanging out with Casey today?"

"I am, he's taking me out to dinner so I've just come home to get ready. What about you? Have you been for a swim?" Ruby asked, noticing Charlie's wet hair and bikini.

"Yes, I went for a swim and then went for lunch with Darryl. I've got to get changed now though because I'm covering for Angelo who has plans with Nicole."

"You had lunch with Brax?" Ruby spluttered, "I thought you hated Brax, I thought you thought he was a dodgy Braxton or something like that. Are you two like an item now or something? You really are a quick worker aren't you Charl?"

"We are not an item, we're just friends."

"Sure if that's what you're going to keep telling yourself. What are you wearing tonight then?"

"Uniform, black shirt and skirt I guess." Charlie replied.

"You should wear your short black skirt. I'm sure Brax would like your legs in that," Ruby said grinning.

"Shush! What are you wearing tonight then for your big date? Where is he taking you?"

"To your restaurant actually. I'm not sure what to wear actually, maybe some sort of dress?" She asked quizzically.

"Oooh he has good taste then. How about we go have a look?" She replied affectionately following Ruby up the stairs.

Brax found Charlie already at the restaurant working at the bar when he arrived that evening. She was sharing a joke with some middle aged man as she passed his pint of Foster's over and took his money out of his other hand. He smiled to himself; Charlie Buckton clearly had a knack for getting exactly what she wanted out of her customers. He wandered up behind her and noticed that her short black skirt made the most of her lengthy legs and curves.

"Good evening," she said, "It's been a while since I've worked behind a bar."

"You seem pretty good at it. How much have you made already?"

"What can I say? I have an extremely charming personality." She replied, beaming.

"You most certainly do Charlie."

"Seriously dude," Casey Braxton interrupted, "Do you always act like this because there is a high possibility that you may scare your customers away."

"Get lost Cas!" Brax replied laughing, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm here with Ruby and I was only coming to ask for a menu Darryl." He answered.

"Nice to see you with your clothes on Casey," Charlie smiled, "And nice to see you're treating my Goddaughter correctly."

"Well I'm lucky to have her, she's amazing." He replied, looking down blushing. Brax noticed his brother's reddening cheeks and smirked.

"And what do you think you're smirking at Darryl? Casey can clearly see a good thing when it's in front of him, there's no shame in having good taste." She said, her turn to smirk. With this she turned around and walked over to take the order of a large group that had just walked in.

"Wow, she's got you wrapped around her little finger hasn't she Brax?" Casey asked grinning having noticed the direction of his oldest brother's gaze.

"Get out of here Cas" he replied hitting his brother playfully over the head, "I think your lady friend has arrived anyway." gesturing to the door where Ruby was standing, dressed in a short, blue, halter neck dress. Casey walked over to her smiling, took her hand and led her over to a table.

"You look beautiful," he said gently, "You are beautiful."

"Thank you babe, you don't look too bad yourself though." She replied smiling, "Well, shall we order then?"

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea, well it would be if Brax could tear himself away from Charlie long enough to notice us." Casey joked.

"What's going on with those two anyway? She says it's nothing but she's definitely hiding something. You know what Case, I think we should do something about them."

"Oh no, what do you mean?" he asked tentatively.

"Well they need a push don't they, your brother's too busy trying to act tough and Charlie isn't the kind of girl who'll tell a guy how she feels, especially after what happened with Angelo."

"And you think we should give them that push..." Casey trailed off.

"That is exactly what I think." Ruby replied smiling craftily.

"Uh Charlie," Darryl started tentatively, "Why does your Goddaughter keep smiling at us?" Charlie turned around to look, and saw, sure enough, Ruby was grinning in their direction.

"Because she's a nosy little cow." Charlie answered sweetly. Brax turned to look at Ruby and laughed.

"Hm, I should probably go take their order, I think I've made my brother wait long enough."

"Why? How long have they been waiting?"

"Oh, about half an hour." He replied in a matter of fact fashion.

"Half an hour?" Charlie was gobsmacked, "You can't make people wait that long, it's not much of a service."

"It's my brother, I wouldn't do it to anyone else and he was being a smart ass, so I had to get my own back somehow, didn't I?"

"Ha-ha, right so you'd treat everyone else with impeccable service?"

"Of course, I wouldn't want to tarnish your lovely restaurant's reputation would I?"

"How considerate of you. Now bearing that thought, will you please go and take your brother and his lovely date's orders?" Brax reached down for his notebook but before he could walk off Charlie added, "And remember to smile." Brax shook his head in disbelief and walked to their table turning around just once to hear Charlie Buckton flirting with some man as she passed over his meal.

"Nice," He thought silently to himself, "Another tip you've got in the bag there Buckton."

That evening had been a busy one and Charlie was sure that through their combined effort, a lot of money had been made that night. Only a few stragglers were left in the restaurant so Lilly took this opportunity to start sorting out the till.

"Well, everything seems to be in order and we've made a lot tonight. There may even be enough for a small bonus for you." She added with a smile.

"Who knew you and I would make such a good team hey? Anyway, I think you deserve most of the credit." He acknowledged.

"Really? Why, what did I do?"

"I think half the men here left with very empty pockets after you'd emptied them for them. You know it's really not right that you go around doing that."

"Doing what?" Charlie asked incredulously.

"Overwhelm them with your big smiles and your charm and all your wit. You know perfectly well that there's no way they can withstand it." He replied, reddening.

"I overwhelm people?" Charlie asked even more incredulous.

"Like you didn't know, every half straight man falls to pieces whenever you're around." He continued, "I'm sure you know how to put it to advantage."

"Do I overwhelm you then?" Charlie questioned, looking him straight in the eye.

"Constantly." He replied simply. Charlie laughed in response and flicked her hair out of her eyes in a purposely elaborate fashion. "Well there's no need to show off is there?"


	8. Chapter 8

Sergeant Watson was sat in her office, waiting for a call from Charlie Buckton . She'd known Charlie for a few years but was still constantly surprised by her. She took over the station, to nobody's knowledge except her's and her superiors, and had allowed her to get on with her job without constantly coming in and lecturing him about targets. He appreciated that. Sergeant Williams walked into the room, breaking her senior out of his reverie.

"Sergeant." She addressed her as she walked in, "She's called, I take it?"

"Yes. She says do what you have to." Williams nodded at her superior. The Sergeant smiled to herself, that's just what she needed to hear.

* * *

><p>Brax walked into the supposedly closed restaurant to find his brother sitting at the bar.<p>

"You're in late." Heath remarked as his brother walked behind the bar.

"Says the guy who's never been on time for a job in his life." Brax remarked moodily.

"Late night was it? Anyway, what's the deal with you and that moody cow, you slept with her yet?"

"Her name's Charlie, she's not a moody cow and it's none of your business." He snapped in response, "Look, did you want something because I am trying to work you know?"

"I take that as a no, seems I will be winning our little bet then. Anyway, I was wondering what you're going to do about the cops? They're still breathing down our necks."

"I'm not going to do anything, we're keeping our heads down, remember?" Brax replied, "Look, I've got this job here and I'm not risking it on something that might not even work, okay?"

"My God, you've gone so soft. Man up, would you?"

"Look Heath, I don't want to spend the best years of my life in a prison cell okay? So you can call me whatever you want, but I'm looking out for us alright, so can you just drop it?" Brax retorted emphatically.

"Fine, you're the boss. Anyway, I'm a bit hard up for cash at the moment-"

"I'm not giving you any." Brax interrupted annoyed.

"I wasn't going to ask for **your** money Brax. I was wondering if you could get me a job here actually." He finished causing his older brother to laugh.

"There is no way in hell Charlie would hire you." Brax answered but noticing his brother's stony expression, he added "I'll put a word in for you but I can't make any promises, Charlie's quite, erm, decided in her opinions, especially of you."

"Decided in my opinions am I Darryl?" Charlie had walked unnoticed up behind Heath in time to hear Brax's last comment.

"Hello Charlie, how are you?" Heath asked Charlie, very politely, causing her to turn and look him, slightly abashed. "Can I get you a drink?"

"It's my restaurant, I own the drinks." She responded.

"Ah yes, that's true so you could look at is as though I'm paying you to have a drink with me. It's a win-win situation."

"Alright, what do you want?" Charlie replied after surveying Heath's expression for a few seconds.

"Me?" he cried, "Nothing!" At this Charlie turned around to look at Brax who responded by shrugging his shoulders.

"Heath, the only reason you ever speak to me is to make some snide, derogatory comment so why now would you be offering to buy me a drink and not wanting anything in return?"

"That's a very cynical attitude you have, a lot like my older brother." He nodded towards DBrax, who was wiping the glasses dry, enjoying this awkward conversation.

"It's called realism Heath, maybe you should get some. Anyway, don't you have somewhere to be, I thought you were meeting some girl at eleven." Brax intervened.

"Oh shit, I completely forgot about that. I'll see you later then I guess, it was lovely seeing you today Charlie." He forced himself to smile at her and left the restaurant, leaving a dumbfound Charlie and a smirking Brax behind.

"What the hell was that about?" Charlie asked Brax, regaining some form of composure.

"He wants a job here. Be warned, my brother doesn't give up easily."

"What did you tell him?" She replied curiously.

"That it was up to you; it's your restaurant and you choose who works there. Anyway, I suppose you don't want another 'dodgy' Braxton brother working in your restaurant do you?" He peered up at her under his long, dark eyelashes.

"I think your brother's worse than you." She decided quietly.

"Really? You think my younger brother is more innocent that me? Less dodgy? Less involved in our 'illicit dealings'?" He continued challenging her, "Because I don't want to lie to you, when I say I'm no angel, I'm being serious."

"I don't doubt that for a second. Are you telling me the rumours are true then? That you are dodgy and involved in these dealings?" She pressured him intently.

"You've already made your mind up on that matter haven't you?" He looked fully into her blue eyes, shocked again by the intensity of their colour. Charlie returned his gaze with equal intensity.

"Well, I don't trust you, let's put it like that, but I don't think you're a bad person. Not deliberately anyway." She finally answered, still completely staring into Brax's face.

"You don't think I'm bad?" He repeated, a smile playing at his lips mischievously. "I'm sure I could change your mind about that and I fully guarantee you'd enjoy it."

"You seem to forget as my employee, I look for a certain level, of appropriate behaviour rather than 'badness"."

"Ah yes, you're my employer, how could I forget?" He grinned at her, with the famous Braxton smile that even made the coldest, hardest business woman feel a little bit hot. Charlie's phone started to ring so with a small smile at Brax she wandered over to the balcony of the restaurant to answer the phone call.

"Hello, Charlie Buckton speaking, how can I help?"

"Is that always how you answer your phone?" Bianca responded from the other end of the line.

"Ah it's you Bianca, you alright?" Charlie smiled.

"Actually I'm really good my dear friend. I was wondering if you were around this morning?"

"Ur, I'm at the restaurant at the moment, we could meet here if you like?" She replied.

"Just couldn't stay away from Brax?" Bianca teased excitedly.

"It's my restaurant." Charlie stated solemnly.

"Whatever you say Charlie," Bianca laughed, "I don't get it though, I mean you obviously like him and he likes you, why don't you just have some fun for once?"

"My God, why is everybody obsessed with my love life all of a sudden. Look, I've got to go Bianca,I'll speak to you later. I'll see you in an hour." Charlie snapped in response.

"Yeah I'll see you later. Bye." Charlie hung up the phone in annoyance, why did everyone have to keep bothering her about Darryl? Yes, he was good looking and charming, he really seemed to care for his family and he wasn't as bad as she first thought but he was still a Braxton. She didn't feel like she could trust any man at the moment, especially not one who spent so much of his time in a 3x3 cell. Why could no one else see this? Why did they have to make out she was being ridiculous? He was very, very good looking though, she was forced to concede. She stomped over to the bar in annoyance only to find Darryl grinning at her.

"God," She thought silently to herself, "Why does he have to make this so difficult?" Her eyes scanned up and down his chest, instead of wearing his formal shirt, he was wearing a very tight black tee-shirt that accentuated his ample muscles. Charlie swallowed hard in an attempt to regain some sort of normal composure and raised her eyes from his chest into his face. His hazel eyes were peering at her curiously and she couldn't help but notice the way they crinkled at the corners when he smiled. She lowered her eyes to his smile and noticed his soft dimples that gave his face a look of youth and innocence. Instead of being clean shaven, Darryl had allowed a light stubble to grow on his face which complimented his dark, messy hair and made him look slightly roguish. His lips though, mischievously higher at on side than the other, looked soft and- "What the hell is happening to me?" She asked, mistakenly, aloud.

"Sorry?" Brax asked, "What do you mean what's happening to you?" Charlie blushed bright red and struggled to find some words. "Are you alright?"

"Ur yeah, sorry I'm just, just ignore me Darryl, I'm just not getting enough sleep or something. I feel a bit faint, I just need to sit down" She softly lied, hoping he would buy this excuse.

"Ignore you? Yeah right. Come on let's go sit down," Darryl replied putting his arm around Charlie's waist, causing her to try struggle away, "Hey, hey, don't struggle, I'm just going to sit you down over there, you look a bit off." She eventually gave in and allowed his arm to guide her over to a chair in the corner. He gently lowered her down in to the chair, taking great care not to push her. "I'm just going to get you a glass of water, wait there." He instructed her. He walked off into the backroom leaving Charlie alone with her thoughts. She hadn't been tongue tied in years, especially not in front of a man. She hadn't felt the way she'd just felt a moment ago when his arm was around her waist, in more years than she could remember. She'd not felt like that with Angelo, or any of the guys before him. How had Darryl managed to make her feel like that? Brax walked back towards her and pulled a chair opposite her.

"Here, I've got you some water." He passed the cool glass into her small hand. "You should drink up." He encouraged her soothingly. She pressed the cool glass to her lips and gently sipped the ice cold water.

"Mm that's nice." She smiled tentatively at Darryl. He was looking at her, concerned with her strange behaviour, differently to normal. He returned her smile, glad to see she was acting a bit more normal. "I'm sorry."

"Will you please stop apologising, you haven't done anything wrong." He exclaimed exasperated. "Anyway, it's quite nice taking care of you for once."

"Oh well I'm quite glad you're finding pleasure in my agony." Charlie laughed lightly.

"Are you feeling better? Can I get you anything else?" He questioned her pressingly.

"Yeah I feel fine, I don't know what came over me, I just went a bit funny. Thank you." She added.

"Hey anytime," He grinned at her and placed his hand on her forehead, "Hmm, you're not very hot."

"I beg your pardon?"Charlie raised her eyebrows at him.

"Oh no, you're hot, I mean you're gorgeous, you're Charlie Buckton," He stumbled over his words, his cheeks going red.

"Um, thank you?" She replied laughing, "Are you blushing? The strong, hot, surfer bad boy is blushing?"

"I guess I'm just not that bad," He conceded, "Wait did you just call me hot? Charlie Buckton, is it you blushing now?" He noticed Charlie's reddening cheeks.

"Shut up!" She cried, gently slapping his bicep.

"Charlie Buckton thinks I'm hot! Go on Charles, admit it, admit it, admit it." Brax sung out.

"Fine, fine." She motioned for him to shut up, "I admit it, you are very attractive."

"Are you saying you're attracted to me then?" His grin widening.

"No, I did not say that. There's a difference between finding someone attractive and being attracted to them."

"Is there? I find you attractive."He pushed his head closer to her.

"Yeah, but you're not attracted to me are you?"

"I think we both know the answer to that, don't we?" His head was so close that they were almost touching. Brax carefully edged a little further so their lips were only millimetres apart. His breathing became heavier and Charlie gulped in response. He tipped his head a little further forward causing their lips to touch momentarily before Charlie quickly withdrew her head.

"We can't do this Brax." She cried emphatically.

"Why not? No one's around." He gestured around the empty restaurant.

"No, we just can't do this at all. Not just not here but not anywhere." She insisted.

"Why? I know you want this just as much as I do Charlie." He replied, confusion written across his face.

"It's not a case of what I want. I have to set a good example to Ruby."

"Oh and I'm not a good enough?" He asked insulted, an expression of hurt etched on his features.

"That's not what I said." She answered quietly.

"Yeah but it's what you meant isn't it? There's no room in your perfect life for someone like me? You know someone who doesn't make millions every year or doesn't have the perfect little family?"

"Oh grow up Darryl." She cried, "I don't give a damn about what you earn or about your family. All I care about is whether I can trust you, and I don't think I can."

"You've never even given me a chance Charlie." He answered emotionally. "You don't know whether you can trust me."

"Darryl, I can't trust anyone at the moment especially someone who does so many untrustworthy things to begin with."

"Not my bloody illicit dealings again. Charlie you have no proof whatsoever that I've done anything wrong." He replied annoyed.

"Then where do the rumours come from, they're not just made out of thin air are they?" She responded angrily.

"Look I'm not an angel Charlie, but everything I've done has been for my family and I swear to you, since I've worked here, I've done nothing wrong. I shouldn't have to justify myself to anyone." He insisted quietly.

"Since you've been here? What's that a few weeks? What will you do next time Heath ends up in trouble, how will you get him out of the mess?" She asked him passionately. He didn't answer. "Exactly. I don't blame you for that, you look out for your family and I respect that but we can't be together while you're still involved in those things. I'm sorry, I genuinely am." The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, until Brax stood up.

"I'll go open up, don't want to lose any business do we?" He left with a masked expression on his face.

"No, no, I'm meeting Bianca here in an hour but I've got some things I need to do before hand." Charlie responded, somewhat awkwardly. The pair faced each other for a few seconds before Charlie nodded at him and walked out of the room leaving Darryl, once again, alone and confused.

* * *

><p>Charlie walked into a little cafe to get a takeaway coffee, before heading out to sit on a bench overlooking the beach. From this position, she could see the waves rolling backwards and forwards off the perfect white sand and the many men making the most of the plentiful waves. The image of Darryl's hurt face when she said they couldn't do it was still stuck at the forefront of her mind. She hadn't deliberately wanted to hurt him but she had to be clear, she couldn't just string him along, especially after her phone call from Sergeant Watson. How would it look if she'd been sleeping with someone who was at the front of a huge ongoing police investigation? It would do absolutely nothing for her reputation and credibility. Charlie sat there, unable to get his cheeky grin out of her face, sipping her scorching black coffee when she was spotted by Casey. He tentatively walked over to her, unsure of the response he would receive.<p>

"Hello Miss Buckton." He politely said. "Can I talk to you?"

"Call me Charlie, Casey, Miss Buckton makes me feel old. Did you want to sit down?" She gestured to the space next to her. He sat down tentatively, not sure what he was going to say to the woman sat next to him.

"I wanted to say thank you, for having dinner with Brax and I the other night. It meant a lot to the both of us. I also wanted to apologize for what you saw the other day, in erm, well, in Ellie's bedroom." He said, looking down.

"That's okay, you're my Goddaughter's boyfriend, and you make her happy. I know this probably surprises you but I really love her and I just want to see her happy." She looked at the nervous boy and smiled gently. "You know I'm not going to bite you, don't you? You seem a little afraid of me."

"I know you love her and I want to assure you that I'd never do anything to hurt her." He looked into her face and she smiled again in response, "I'm sorry it's just Brax told me to be polite to the most important person in Ruby's life." Charlie looked down at her cup, memories of his hurt face crossing across her mind, the feeling of guilt quickly washed over her.

"Smart boy, your brother." She replied finally.

"Yeah, he is. I don't know what I'd do without him to be honest with you."

"Why?" She asked, raising her head slowly.

"He's been more than just a brother to me, anything I need he's there. He's been pushing me so hard to stay in school, says he doesn't want his life for me. He's admitted though that I've already done better with the girls than him." Casey laughed gently.

"Believe me, I doubt you brother has ever had problems with the girls."

"He didn't before, I mean he'd have a new girl in his bed every night, but recently he hasn't been with anyone. I'm not complaining, I hated seeing all those skanks walking around our house but I worry about him-." He broke off, looking awkward.

"You worry about him? I think Darryl's pretty good at looking after himself." She replied, very surprised.

"No, Brax always looks after everyone else, he's always in charge but there's no one looking after him. I mean he's looked after me for years, he's still bailing Heath out and don't even get me started on Mum. Everyone assumes he's just a lazy arsed surfer, who goes around breaking the law; they don't realise that he used to pick me up from school, cook my dinner, do all my washing, make time for my homework and support the family. I know as well as anyone he's done a few dodgy things, but he hates it. Every time he breaks the law, he tells me how I don't want this life, how he doesn't want this life. All he's ever done is look after me and I hate the way people talk about him, like he's some kind of low life because to be honest, he's the best guy I know. God, he'd kill me if he knew I was telling you this stuff."

"Then we won't tell him, will we?" Charlie smiled softly at Casey, who immediately looked relieved. "So, why do you think your brother's stopped sleeping around?"

"He's been trying really hard recently to do better. I mean, he's got that job with you now and he really wants to make a go of it. I should probably thank you for that." He paused, considering his words, "I know it isn't my place to say this but you should give him a chance. He's a good guy and he's loyal to those he cares about...and he cares about you. He won't say anything, he's too stubborn and proud for that, but he hurts and some nights when we thinks we're all asleep I see him sat on the sofa and he looks so God damn broken. He won't open up to me but with you he might. Just, please just promise me you won't write him off, not before giving him a chance at least. I think, for you, he might change." Casey finished, oblivious to the state he'd reduced the strong, cold business woman next to him.

"Well it's been lovely talking to you Casey but I've got to go meet Bianca. Bye." Charlie rushed off after gaining some small form of composure. As she rushed away, she chucked her half drunk coffee into a bin and found Casey's words swimming around in her head. She shook her head and looked down at her watch, and noticing the time, quickened her walk into the restaurant she so eagerly escaped from an hour earlier. She walked in with her head held high, trying to avoid Darryl's eyes, knowing that one look into the hazel eyes would send all those words to the forefront of her mind, once again.

* * *

><p>The restaurant was unusually empty, and Brax emerged out of the backroom to find Charlie sat at a table for two by the window. Cursing himself, he couldn't numb the fluttering he felt in the stomach when he saw a small smile grace her face. He stood by the door for a few moments, observing the way she absent mindedly twiddled with a stray curl, attempting to tuck it behind her ear. Fuck, he thought silently, Heath was right, he'd gone soft. What was it about her that made him lose his cool exterior? Why did he care so much about her? He just needed to accept the fact that this was one battle he was not going to win and as much as he wanted to, she was not going to just change her mind. With that final bitter thought, he, just like Charlie, walked with his head held height straight past her table and instead welcomed the next customers into the restaurant.<p>

"What did you do to him?" Bianca asked Charlie at their table, as Brax walked past, coldly ignoring both of them.

"We almost kissed again and I told him I couldn't do it because I couldn't trust him." Charlie answered, sighing.

"Ouch, and he didn't take it well?"

"He thought I didn't want him because he didn't earn enough money and wasn't good enough for me. I never wanted him to hate me." Charlie looked down at her drink.

"But you like him?" Bianca pressed forward.

"I," She started, "I'm confused, I know his reputation but I hear so many stories about him looking out of his family and I want to give him a chance. When I'm around him, I feel something I most certainly didn't feel when I was with Angelo and I don't trust it. I don't trust myself around him. Anyway, enough about my disastrous love life, why did you stand me up last night?"

"Ah, well please don't yell at me but I kind of ended up going home with someone." Bianca smirked coyly.

"What? Who? Do I know him? Is he hot?"

"Yes and yes, you do know him and he's very hot." Her smirk turned into a grin.

"Well, who is it?" Charlie insisted.

"Promise me you'll keep an open mind." Bianca took a deep breath and carried on, "It's Heath, Heath Braxton."

"WHAT? YOU SLEPT WITH HEATH BRAXTON?" Charlie shrieked across the restaurant, "Sorry, everyone, please enjoy your meals." She apologized after receiving a few disapproving looks from the customers sat nearby.

"Look, it wasn't planned, but damn, it was good, I mean it was just so, it was just so hot, and he was well, he was very well-" Bianca started before being cut off by Charlie.

"Eeew, I do not need to hear about his anatomy okay?" Charlie shook her head in disgust.

"Seriously though Charlie, if Heath was that good, and believe me he was good, how good do you think Brax would be?" Bianca smirked at the expression of hunger that crossed Charlie's face.

"Don't, every time I look at his sexy stubble I feel hotter than I have in years, I swear, I'm sex-starved!"

"Of course you are, the last guy you were with was Angelo and that was months ago. At the risk of sounding like Ruby, you need to get out there some more. You are in the prime of your life and it will all start going south soon so make the most of it. Just do what feels right, go with it and it'll be good. I promise you."

"Maybe I will." Charlie sneaked a glance at Brax who was still deliberately ignoring her before pouring the remains of her glass down her throat.

* * *

><p>Charlie breathed deeply before walking up the broken path towards the entrance of the Braxton household. The garden was overgrown, but someone had clearly tried to make it look a little more appealing by placing a surfboard over the worst of the weeds. Charlie reached the door and knocked it gently before stepping back, out of the light. The door swung open and Charlie came face to face with Brax, who clearly had just stepped out of the shower. His dark hair was drenched and droplets of water were quickly rolling down his bare chest. Charlie followed a droplet of water as it travelled down his abs, lower and lower, down to the top of the grey towel that was precariously wrapped around his hips. Charlie gulped, and raised her head to face Brax, who was trying to disguise the shock of Charlie Buckton being on his doorstep with an expression of annoyance.<p>

"What do you want?" He demanded.

"To speak to you, can I come in?" She asked, unabashed by his aggressive tone of voice. Her rejection had hurt him and she hadn't expected him to have forgiven her yet.

"No, my brother's are home."

"No they're not, Casey's at my house and Heath's with Bianca. So, can I come in?" She smiled up at him sweetly.

"Fine." He replied dejectedly, opening the door so she could step into the Braxton house. She had to admit that she was very surprised with the Braxton home. It was extremely clean and tidy and many pictures framing Casey's achievements were littered on the cabinets.

"So, what did you want Charlie?" He repeated, still slightly abashed that Charlie Buckton was standing in his living room. Despite the fact that he was still angry with her, he still found himself admiring her curvaceous figure in her tight fitting skinny jeans and blouse. Her brown hair fell gently at each shoulder and she was wearing little make up, and still looked as, if not more, attractive as ever. She turned to fully face him and found him looking intently at her, trying to find some clue to why she was in his home.

"I've wanted to talk to you all day about what happened this morning but it didn't seem the right time." Charlie started, trying to choose her words carefully. Brax just looked at her. "Everything you've said about me has been true but I've been too afraid to admit it. I haven't given you a chance and I apologize for that. Every opinion I've based on you has been on hearsay and I haven't given you the benefit of the doubt. So that brings me to why I'm here, I want to give you that benefit of the doubt, I mean, if you still want it." She finished nervously, "I'm not good at trusting people but I mean it when I tell you that I want to trust you, I really do." She looked down and didn't notice that Brax had silently stepped towards her.

"Why the change?" He asked quietly.

"I'm not sure. I spoke to Casey today and he showed me a side to you that I thought I'd seen but wasn't sure if it was real."

"And what side is that?" His voice was barely more than a whisper,

"The good side, the side that only wants to do well for his family, the side that wants out of his life and instead wants to do something good with it, something that's worthwhile."

"I don't need pity." He snapped brusquely, "I don't want you to feel you have to be with me because we've had it hard. I'm not looking for sympathy and I'm sure as hell not going to become some special project of yours." He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I don't pity you Darryl, I, I respect you. I respect the way you put your family first and I respect your strength. I like the fact you don't need anyone and you never ask anyone for anything, you're proud and you're so God damn stubborn that even if I did offer to help you, you wouldn't accept it. I love the fact that whatever's going on with you, you're still able to hold your head high and ignore the whispers and the rumours. But more than that, I love the fact that when you think nobody's looking, you let your guard down and I see something messy and complicated and so fucking real that it hurts me. But by the next second, it will be replaced by a smirk and I'll be questioning myself if I imagined it or not and if that maybe deep down, you do need someone. You do need someone to hold you and tell you it will be okay and that they trust you and believe you, and you need someone you feel the exact same way about." She finished her rant, breathless, her eyes sparkling in unshielded excitement.

"So what does that mean?" Brax asked a few minutes later, his gaze not leaving her face.

"It means, seriously you're going to make me say this?" Charlie looked at Brax exasperated.

"Yes, I am." He grinned at her, causing a familiar hot sensation to run down the back of her neck.

"It means, it means I like you okay? I've tried to stop myself but I do. I like your smile and your wit, and I like your flaws, the way you are incapable of taking anything seriously and the way you let me in. I like that the most." Charlie turned away embarrassed, attempting to ignore the growing grin on Brax's face.

"Okay, so what else?"

"What do you mean what else?" Charlie Buckton was rarely confused but at this precise moment she found that no answer was forming in her mind.

"Well I knew you liked me, that was obvious-"

"Well, it's clearly for your obvious modesty and lack of cockiness. Boy you have a big ego." She cut across of him, smirking.

"It's not that big...there are bigger things." It was his turn to smirk at her, as he noticed Charlie's eyes travelling down his torso to the location of his towel, once again. "Liking what you see there Charlie?" Her cheeks burnt red hot as she realised her wandering eyes had been noticed.

"Actually, I was thinking you might be cold. Don't you want to go put some clothes on?" She replied simply.

"I was fine actually but if it would save you some embarrassment, you clearly can't keep your eyes off me." He'd already wandered off before Charliehad a chance to reply. Her eyes scanned the room again, noticing a huge cabinet of cd's she'd previously missed. Before she had a chance to closely inspect them Brax had re-entered the room and was stood directly behind her.

"So, you had something else to say didn't you?"

"I don't know Mr Braxton; you're the one with all the answers..." She smiled seductively up at him.

"Let me enlighten you then Miss Buckton, we have established you like me understandably, and that I like you. What has not been established is what we're going to do about it?"

"I'd thought that would have been pretty self explanatory considering I've just turned up on your doorstep..." She looked up and found his face centimetres away from her. He smiled gently at her but was apprehensive to move any further, the memories of his two previous attempts to kiss her were raw in his mind. Sensing his apprehension, Charlie stepped forward and placed her hand around his neck pulling him closer to her. She looked intently into his dark eyes, finding the green flecks, for more than a moment before gently pressing her lips against his. At the touch of her lips, Brax snaked his hands around her waist, pulling her body closer to his, so that they were touching. The gentle kiss quickly turned more passionate, the intensity of the emotions they'd both been holding in, was apparent to both of them. Charlie's tongue gently slipped out of her mouth, and travelled across Brax's bottom lip, searching for entry. Without thinking, Brax opened his mouth and their tongues met, exploring their new surroundings eagerly, growing in confidence with each second. Charlie's other hand grabbed Brax's damp hair, pulling his face even closer to her so that their noses were touching. Brax's hands travelled down from Charlie's waist slowly, and finally rested on her hips, before pulling his face away from hers, to breathe. "I think I've messed up your hair a bit." Charlie giggled.

"Ah, don't worry about it. It's always a mess anyway." He grinned at her, "And anyway, that was definitely worth it."

"Mmm, that was pretty good." She smiled coyly right back.

"Pretty good?" He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Well, I've had some better-" She was cut off by his lips crashing against hers as he pushed her body against a nearby wall, leaving her completely defenceless to him and his strength. His tongue pushed his way dominantly into her mouth, not leaving a single area untouched. He put his hands around her waist and lifted her body off the ground, pressing her body even further into the wall, causing her to arch her back. Brax's mouth left Charlie's and started kissing gently down her neck, getting more passionate the further he got. A small moan escaped Charlie's mouth as she wrapped her legs around his hips, causing Brax to smirk and work his way back up her neck, leaving a trail of kisses towards her mouth, before biting her lower lip and pulling her towards himself, grinning at the look of pleasure on her face. He lowered her body back on to the ground and kissed her lips tenderly, pulling away to smirk, satisfied with the reaction he'd got out of her.

"What were you saying again?" He queried, grinning.

"I was saying that I think I finally believe in your moves." She answered, breathing quickly. "That was definitely something."

"Well, I have to concede," Brax admitted, "Your moves aren't too bad either."

Charlie bit her lip and lifted her head up to whisper in his ear, "Baby, you haven't even seen my moves yet." Brax's grin grew wider as he turned his face to directly look at Charlie, who was smiling at the hungry expression that had just crossed his face. "If you're good, you might get to see them one day."

"Well, I'll be making sure I'm on my best behaviour from now on."

"You better." She replied quietly.

"So, do I get any form of taster?"

"Ooh, I don't know about that, I do normally like to wait for a few dates first." She played along with him.

"So, are you saying there are going to be more dates than this?"

"Oh sweetie this isn't a date!" She replied in mock seriousness, "This is me expressing my emotions, not an actual date."

"I see. So, tell me Miss Buckton, what would you like to do on our first date?" He asked, bowing his head, and pulling her on top of him, onto the sofa.

"Ah, well, I don't have very expensive taste to be honest, I don't like seafood or anything showy. I like simple things." She replied, leaning in closer to Brax.

"Damn, there's the 3 Michelin stars seafood restaurant out of the window then."

"Very funny," She replied dryly, "It's okay, we don't have to do anything really."

"No, I want to do this properly. You're the first girl I've ever felt something for, so I'm going to do this the proper way, even if it means I have to wear a suit." He pulled a shocked face up at her grinning face. Charlie smiled seductively down at Brax, before lowering her lips to his ears, and gently nibbled the corner. Her lips traced the outline of his ear, tickling him with her gentle breath.

"Honey," She whispered quietly, "I don't intend on you wearing a suit for long." Brax gulped, and a red blush travelled up his face. "Are you blushing?" Charlie exclaimed pulling her head away to stare down at him. "That's the second time today." Brax grinned at her, and lifted her into the space next to him before turning to face her.

"It's your fault, you make me feel like some pathetic school boy with a crush on the most popular girl at school."

"Sorry." She smiled innocently across at him. "Darryl, this is going to work isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Us." She looked down at her lap, and twiddled her silver locket through her fingers.

"Maybe we should keep it quiet for a bit, till we're sure." He suggested, "I mean I'd obviously love people to see us together but perhaps for the sakes of Rubes and Case, I don't want to raise their hopes and then crush them back down."

"I think that sounds good. Let's just keep this between us for a while then, just until we're sure..." She smiled up at him, and gently pressed her lips against his. "I should probably go home, it's getting late and I don't want Ruby to worry."

"Okay, can I walk you home? It's getting dark and I don't want you getting hurt." Brax asked.

"That's sweet but people will talk and we're trying to keep this quiet, remember?" She nudged him gently and smiled. "I'll see you in the morning Darryl." She walked to the door and gave him a final smile before walking back down the broken path that led to the Braxton household.

_Hiii! So, finally an update! I hope you guys liked this! Please let me know what you all think! It means a lot when someone takes the time to review! Hopefully, I'll be updating a lot more regularly now! :D Thanks for sticking with me so far :)_


	9. Chapter 9

Once again, I am soo sorry for the delay in uploading this chapter! I've been so caught up in having the Olympics in the UK and with the summer holidays! I'll try to be better in future...I promise :')

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! You know the drill, please review, they mean a lot to me!

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><p>"<em>Brax have you listened to a word I've just said?" Heath yelled at his brother, who had been wiping the same glass for over five minutes, while gazing out of the double windows to the petite brunette who was running along the beach before him.<em>

"_The honest answer is no." _

"_Look, I was speaking to the boys the other night and they're not happy, our money is drying up, we need to make some, and soon. I know you've gone all good and mighty and all that shit on me but all I need is the upfront cash from you. I've found somewhere, I just need the cash to get us started."_

"_Bloody hell Heath, how many times do I have to say no to you before you get it in your thick skull? I'm not giving you the money..." _

"_Why the hell not? I need to make a living, I'm not asking you to do anything just give me the money, I'll pay you back when business starts going." Heath insisted._

_Brax relented a little, "How much are we talking?"_

"_5." Heath looked intently at his older brother, "Once business is up and running, you'll have your money back, I promise." _

"_Look, I'll talk to you about this later, Angelo has just arrived."_

"_I thought you'd put him in his place, you not screwing his boss yet? Hang on, isn't she his ex-girlfriend, oh yeah, I meant to tell you, I heard she screwed that copper the other week, sounds like she's been around a bit. Hey, she's the perfect match for you." Heath jeered at Brax. "How is our bet coming on there anyway? You got her to go out with you yet?" _

_The memory of her pressed up against the wall swam around Brax's mind, bringing a smile to his fact that was unnoticed by his younger brother who was surveying Angelo with a keen interest. _

"_I'm working on it." Brax answered simply, "Hey Bianca," he added, noticing a stressed blonde walking up to the bar. _

"_Oh hey Brax," She smiled at him, before turning to face Heath, and kissing him gently on the lips. "You alright baby?"_

"_Better now you're here." Heath replied, pulling her towards him._

"_Oh bloody hell Heath, man up." Brax interrupted disgustedly, however Heath was far too busy getting reacquainted with Bianca to pay much attention to his brother. Angelo walked behind the bar towards Brax, giving Heath a dirty look._

"_What's he doing in my bar?" He snapped, gesturing towards Heath._

"_He's a paying customer Angelo, and it's not your bar, its Charlie's." Brax responded. _

"_Speaking of Charlie, have you seen her? I heard your scumbag brother is trying to get a job here, and she needs to be warned." _

"_What did you call my brother?" Brax tensed up, looking directly into Angelo's face, "I'd watch your mouth if I was you. Anyway, I've already told Charlie about Heath, I like to be honest with her you see, I don't want to keep things from her." _

"_What's that supposed to mean?" Angelo snarled. _

"_You're really that thick...well, I can't say I'm surprised, you'd have to be to let a girl like Charlie slip through your fingers..."_

"_For fuck's sake Brax, you don't stand a chance there so don't even bother, it's embarrassing." _

"_Don't I? What makes you say that? I think Charlie and I would be good together, I mean I might be a bit more of a match for her than you."_

"_More of a match?" Angelo repeated, raising his eyebrows. _

"_Well, I doubt you could really satisfy her could you? I bet she never really got what she was looking for." Angelo just stood there dumbstruck "Is that why you looked somewhere else? You wanted someone easier, someone with lower standards, who was easily pleased? Someone who didn't mind that your sex was so boring, not like Charlie who probably had to picture another guy the whole time?" CRASH! Angelo had pushed Brax against the shelves, causing several bottles to fall from their safe place and smash onto their floor. The restaurant went completely silent, as all turned to see the brawl that had just started. _

"_You don't know what you're talking about!" Angelo snarled under his breath, tugging at Brax's black tee-shirt, causing him to chuckle._

"_You honestly think you could beat me up?" Angelo scowled at Brax, and released his grip slowly. Brax shook himself off lightly, still chuckling, and only just managed to duck his face out of the way as Angelo's fist came swinging, hitting the glass cabinet. Brax grabbed Angelo and threw him forcefully against the wall, his face enraged. _

"_You're going to regret that Angelo." His voice was cold as he curled his hand into a fist whilst walking towards Angelo, who was cowering against the wall. He swung his fist back as a voice rang out, causing both men to turn and look._

"_WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU TWO PLAYING AT?" Charlie Buckton shouted from the doorway, her eyes scanning the broken glass, smashed bottles and Angelo's bleeding fist. Brax instantaneously dropped his hand, a look of guilt crossed his face as he saw the damage he and Angelo had created. Charlie walked towards them silently, the eyes of all the customers on her. "Angelo, explain what happened here?" _

"_I apologise Charlie, Brax and I had a disagreement and he got physical."_

"_Like hell I did, you pushed me against a glass cabinet and tried to punch me-"_

"_You threw me against a wall and tried to punch me." Angelo cut across. _

"_Please tell me that's a joke Bianca?" She said turning to her best friend for some form of reassurance. _

"_Well, technically it was Angelo that started it but Brax did respond by throwing him into a wall and was purposefully provoking him beforehand, so he's not entirely innocent." Bianca replied matter of factly. _

"_Right, so you two just decided to have a fight in my restaurant?" Charlie turned back around to face Brax and Angelo, who just stood there silently. _

"_It was his fault-"Angelo began._

"_I don't want to hear excuses and I sure as hell don't want to listen to you both blaming each other. I don't give a damn if you to hate each other, or if you want to kill each other, just DON'T DO IT IN MY RESTAURANT. I've worked too hard for two jumped up little boys to mess it up." Charlie stared coldly at both of them. "You're both going to clear up this mess, without complaint," She added as she noticed both men about to complain._

"_I'm sorry Charlie, it won't happen again." Brax finally said, making eye contact with Charlie._

"_Damn right, it won't. Now when I come back in 30 minutes I expect this place to be spotless, if it's not, God help you." With that, Charlie turned her back and stalked out of the restaurant. The occupants of the restaurant stared avidly at the doorway for a few seconds, before gradually returning to their meals and conversations._

"_You know, I think she was pretty pissed." Heath stated._

"_No shit Sherlock." Bianca replied, her eyes laughing. _

"_I'll go get the black bags if you want to start with the broom." Brax suggested, quietly. _

"_Yep, fine." Angelo turned his back hurriedly and started brushing the floor. Bianca snuggled up closely to Heath smiling. _

"_Look at them, working together, do you think she realises they're both pretty much in love with her?" Bianca whispered into Heath's ear. _

"_Do you think they realise they're both pretty much in love with her?" Heath replied, surveying his eldest brother with utmost curiosity. _

"_No, probably not." She answered finally, watching the two men work efficiently whilst sneakily glancing up at the clock, counting the time until Charlie Buckton would return._

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><p>"<em>Do you know who it belongs to?" Charlie enquired to Sergeant Watson, as she lent over hes desk, inspecting the images she'd advised her to see. <em>

"_I have my suspicions but I don't have any evidence..." She replied, surveying the woman in front of him. _

"_You think it's the Braxton's?" _

"_I think so, but they're always one step ahead of us, we can't catch them." _

"_When was the place last cleared out?" She pressed on._

"_Judging by the state of it a good few weeks but they've probably found somewhere new by now, they'd have heard about our investigation." She answered solemnly. _

"_And you believe it's them? Nobody else?" She repeated, avoiding her gaze. _

"_Miss Buckton is there something you're not telling me?" She asked hesitantly._

"_Such as?" Charlie's face was masked, and she turned her full attention on the sergeant, fixing her with a cold stare._

"_I've heard that the oldest Braxton is currently in your employment and the youngest is dating your Goddaughter. This could, perhaps, change your perceptive." She suggested hesitant of the response he would receive. _

"_My manager employed Mr Braxton and as yet I've had no reason to fire the man, at the first sign of trouble you know perfectly well I'd get rid of him. As for Casey, he's a nice boy and he makes my Goddaughter happy. Do not imply that I've not been on guard with this family Sergeant, you should know that my perception isn't easily influenced. Do not make me justify myself again." Charlie stated, her voice icy, anger penetrating through the room. _

"_Of course Ma'am, apologies for asking." Her voice was apologetic and her head was lowered._

"_Very well, continue with the investigation and keep me informed. Goodbye Sergeant." She stormed out of the police station, leaving a bewildered Sergeant Watson replaying the conversation in her head, unsure of why Charlie Buckton's famous temper had so quickly arisen._

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><p><em>Casey and Ruby were sat next to the window of the restaurant, a chocolate milkshake on either side of the table, mindlessly gossiping about the party this upcoming weekend, when they were interrupted by Sergeant Watson.<em>

"_And do your guardians know about this party?" She interrupted, raising his eyebrows._

"_What's it to you?" Casey asked, rather rudely. _

"_Hey, Case, calm down." _

"_Yeah, listen to your girlfriend Mr Braxton, or I'm sure we could find you a cell used so often by your charming brothers." She smirked as she saw Casey's face get redder and redder. "Calm boy, they always told me you were the clever one of the family, though compared to the rest of your family that doesn't take much does it?" _

"_Do we have a problem here?" Charlie Buckton interrupted, scrutinizing police woman in front of her. _

"_Of course not Miss Buckton, I was just hearing these two youngsters plan for the weekend, I wanted to make sure they were safe." _

"_Ah, how considerate of you Sergeant, but I assure you they'll be perfectly safe, they've been lectured enough by both myself and Mr Braxton's brother, that is, if you think I've done a good enough job?" She questioned the other woman, a smile playing at her lips. _

"_I don't doubt your ability for a second, I should go, leave you three to it." She quickly paced out of the restaurant leaving Ruby staring at her Godmother with a look of admiration. _

"_How the hell do you manage to do that? She's terrified of you." She cried, gobsmacked. _

"_It's a skill that takes years to master." She winked at the pair of them before heading to the bar, noticing a tentative looking Brax stood there, surveying her. _

"_Well, my restaurant looks a damn sight better." She said, sliding onto the chair._

"_I'm really sorry about that Charlie, I never meant for it to turn out like that and I understand if you don't want to go through with us, I wouldn't blame you. I shouldn't have let Angelo get to me and whatever punishment you decide is suitable, I will happily comply with because I probably deserve it." He confessed, staring into her blue eyes, and reminding himself once again, just how beautiful she was. _

"_Get me a drink would you Darryl, whatever's the cocktail special." She demanded, admiring his toned arms as he set about making her drink. His black tee-shirt rode up as he reached up to the top shelf, showing a small portion of a muscular stomach that Charlie was quick to notice. He passed the glass into her outstretched hand, and stood waiting for the verdict as she took a sip. _

"_That's not bad Darryl." Charlie decided after a moments consideration. "Anyway, back to what you were saying before, I'm not impressed with what happened earlier, I can't having you throwing punches at someone just because they said something disrespectful about you or your brother. You need to control your temper, but no, I have no intention of ending whatever we are because of it."_

"_Seriously?!" He exclaimed._

"_What, are you disappointed?" She asked, her eyebrows raised._

"_No of course I'm not, I've been trying to gear myself all day to hear how we can't get together because I go around beating guys up." He explained, grinning. _

"_No Darryl, I don't want to end things with you. You can't go around beating guys up though, even if it is a bit hot." _

"_A bit hot?" He smirked at her. _

"_Well every girl wants to hear a guy was fighting for them." _

"_I was fighting for you was I?" He questioned smirking. _

"_Well, apparently you think you'd be more of a match for me, be able to keep me satisfied I believe you put it." She laughed playfully. _

"_Well, I would." He answered, completely unabashed, "You just say when and where and I'll prove it Miss Buckton." He winked at her smirking, before getting to work at pouring his own drink._

"_Okay." She agreed after a minute's silence. "I'll meet you tonight at closing." _

"_What?!" Darryl spluttered, coughing rapidly as his drink went flying everywhere. _

"_Wow. That was sexy." Charlie stated, wiping the remains of his drink off her top. _

"_Were you being serious?" He said, recovering himself. _

"_Nah, I just wanted to see your reaction, and boy it was good." She giggled taking another sip of her cocktail. Brax shook his head at her and returned to wiping the glasses dry. _

"_You're an evil woman." Brax stated solemnly, causing Charlie to chuckle._

"_Sorry about that." She smiled at him, before surveying Brax carefully, "Darryl, there is something I need to ask you that you need to answer truthfully. Do you promise to be honest?" _

"_Okay, sure, what did you need to ask me?" He lifted his eyes up from the glass._

"_Are you involved in the funding, harvesting or selling of illegal substances?" She demanded pointedly. _

"_Are you actually being serious?" His voice stony and quiet._

"_I have to ask."_

"_Why?" He asked, his voice raised, "Is this because you're a copper?"_

"_It doesn't matter why I'm asking does it?"_

"_To me, it does. I want to know whether it's the girl I want to be with asking me, or whether it's the girl who wants some lead on a case." He answered angrily._

"_Why are you so angry about this?" Charlie pressed, annoyed._

"_I'm not angry," He breathed out, "I'm just hurt you'd ask."_

"_So you're not going to answer..." She said after a moment's pause._

"_I'm disappointed I have to answer to be honest, but no at the present time I am not involved in any illegal substances." _

"_And your brother?" _

"_Is none of your business." He finished solemnly._

"_Well, thank you for being honest." She smiled at him nervously, " I didn't want to upset you honestly." She reached across the bar and took his hand in hers, sending shivers down his spine. "I'll make it up to you." She promised, gently kissing his hand, before sliding off her stool and leaving the restaurant._

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><p>"<em>Hey Charlie," Angelo called, running towards Charlie, "Wait up." <em>

"_Hey Angelo." Charlie replied, stopping to meet him. _

"_I'm really, really, really sorry about earlier Charlie. It shouldn't have got so out of hand."_

"_You're right," Charlie sighed, "But I don't want to argue with you anymore, we said we'd try to be friends and I still really want that." _

"_I'm glad." The pair walked in silence for a while, Angelo looking around before asking, _

"_So, you and Brax, anything going on there?" _

"_I'm not sure that's any of your business really Angelo..." _

"_Is that a yes?" _

"_I don't really have to answer. What's it to you anyway?" Charlie rebutted. _

"_I just don't trust him, or his damn brother. Heath's scheming something, and I'm not sure how long Brax can keep up this good, innocent life charade."_

"_Maybe it's not a charade, maybe he's really changing. He seemed pretty serious when he was talking to me." _

"_I wonder why..." Angelo muttered under his breath, out of hearing to Charlie._

"_Anyway, I have to go Angelo, there's someone I need to apologise to." Charlie started to walk away before turning around and asking, "I don't suppose you know any nice, quiet, secluded beaches around here do you Angelo?" _

"_Yeah," he answered, "There's a nice one just up north, about a 10 minutes drive north and then turn left off to a little side road."_

"_Ah perfect, thank you Angelo."_

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><p><em>Charlie quietly walked up to the door of the Taylor house, stepping back to admire a surfboard after gently knocking at the door. <em>

"_What do ya' want?" Heath snapped as he pulled open the door and upon noticing Charlie painted a smile onto his face. _

"_Good evening Heath, is Darryl in?" Charlie asked politely. _

"_Why?" He raised his eyebrows at her suspiciously. _

"_Why do you think Heath? Because I want to whisk him away to a secluded beach, throw myself on him and fuck him until morning comes." Charlie smiled sweetly at the end._

"_Right. I'll go get him." He replied awkwardly. "Brax, Buckton's here for you...something about work." Heath disappeared back to his seat on the sofa as Brax walked down the stairs to the front door. _

"_Charlie, hi, what are you doing here?" He asked, surprised. _

"_Coming to get you. Are you free tonight?" _

"_For you, always." He smirked at her. _

"_Hm, good, I believe I need to apologise to you don't I?" She said stepping forward. _

"_Yes, I believe you do..." He replied, shutting the door quietly behind him and stepping closer._

"_I think I have a way to..."She licked her lips, "apologise." Brax gulped as she pushed her body against his, her hips pressing against him hard. _

"_Yeah?" He lowered his lips against her neck, whispering his words against her exposed neck, "I can think of a few ways too." He pressed his lips against her neck, gently nipping her skin until he heard her moan. _

"_Not here." Charlie muttered, "Come with me." She grabbed his hand and pushed him into the passenger seat of her car._

* * *

><p>"<em>That wasn't fair Charlie." Brax stated as Charlie drove away. <em>

"_What's that Darryl?" Charlie chuckled._

"_The moment I have the advantage you end it and whisk me away somewhere…"_

"_You have the advantage?" She repeated._

"_Well yeah, I had you powerless against my skills right there on my doorstep, moaning away you were." He turned to face her and winked, causing her to burst into laughter._

"_Are you being serious Darryl?" She said once she'd eventually calmed down. Noticing his stony expression, she placed a tentative hand on his knee, slowly circling her palm until she felt him relax. Very, very slowly she brushed her hand higher up against his leg, her fingers gently dancing against the fabric of his trousers, higher and higher until she heard his breath hitch. Giggling softly, she brushed her hand over his groin, causing him to gasp before innocently reaching over to turn up the volume on the radio and place her hand on the steering wheel._

_Charlie smirked to herself as she turned into the car park and watched Brax's bemused expression. _

"_We're at a beach." He stated simply._

"_Seriously Darryl? How the hell did we end up here? I thought it was the Statue of Liberty." She replied sarcastically._

"_Ha. Ha." He opened his door slowly, breathing in the salty smell of the sea. "What are we doing here Charlie?" _

"_Ah, well I'm glad you asked that because this is one of my rather ingenious ideas if I do say so myself."_

"_What's that, I get to teach you to surf? Now that would be very good." _

"_That was my plan exactly." She replied, staring him straight in the eye, "You up for it?" _

"_Definitely." He answered quickly, grinning sheepishly at her unintentional innuendo. "But Charlie, I don't have my board or anything…" _

"_All in the back of the car." She answered immediately, grinning._

"_Do I want to know how you managed to get all of this?" He asked smiling broadly, as he took in the two boards and various pairs of his board shorts she's brought for him._

"_No, probably not…" She smirked her eyes sparkling in recollection. "Anyway, get changed you, I want to learn to surf." She giggled softly as he threw his tee shirt off into her face with little encouragement. _

"_It's beautiful isn't it?" Charlie thought aloud, gazing out at the crashing inky waves. _

"_Yeah, breathtakingly so…" Brax replied seriously, staring right at her. _

"_Shall we go surf then?" She asked, blushing profusely as she finally noticed the intense direction on his gaze. "We only have all night." She winked before running off towards the sea, a satisfied smile plastered to her __face._

_Hope you enjoyed! Please review! Huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far in the story! _


	10. Chapter 10

_Finally a chapter! I'm afraid it's not that long as I have a big plan for next chapter and didn't want to half start it and not finish it. Anyways, I hope you like this- it's a little short and sweet. _

_It's a very fluffy chapter and was quite fun to write _

_Anyway, I am so, so, so, so, so sorry for the wait but if you guys could review I'd appreciate it so much! :D Love you xxxxxxx_

"So, I'm guessing that surfing may not be your thing..." Brax laughed as the pair made their way out of the sea.

"I thought I was pretty good actually Darryl Braxton." She stated, poking him in the chest.

"Hm, I'm not sure if falling over in the sea constitutes as being pretty good." She teased, entwining his fingers with hers and bringing her hand to his side. "However I will concede that you are the hottest woman I have ever seen fall flat on her face."

"Wow," She grinned, "You really know how to compliment a girl."

"Well, you know I save my best lines for you..." He raised one eyebrow at her flirtatiously.

"God help the other girls then..." Charlie raised her eyebrow back at him.

"Oi. You are a very mean lady Charlie Buckton." Brax pouted, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Just truthful." She grinned up at him.

"Ooh, now that was unnecessary."

"What you going to do about it?" She teased.

"I'll show you." He replied smirking as he heaved her body into the air and playfully threw her body to the ground, so his arms trapped her sides.

"I can't move Darryl!" Charlie squealed, squirming around.

"Hm, well maybe if you were a little nicer to me you wouldn't be in this position right now." He chuckled, grinning down at her. "But as it is, I think it's my turn to have some fun with you rather than it be the other way around for once. "

"You're going to violate an innocent, small woman?" She asked, her eyes wide and feigning innocence and trepidation.

"To be honest with you sweetheart," Brax lowered his lips to her cheek, and began placing small kisses along her jaw line, "I don't think you'll be complaining." His lips trailed down her jaw, nipping and pecking her neck so her gentle moans were ubiquitous. His lips moved across from her neck, as his tongue slipped out, gently licking and caressing her chest. He continued a trail of kisses and pecks down her cleavage and downwards onto her stomach. Charlie's hands squirmed in the sand with pleasure as she began to stroke her legs along the outlines of his before wrapping her legs around his and pulling his body lower onto hers.

A cheeky grin spread across her face as she heard a slight groan escape his mouth at the sudden contact with her body. Brax's hands travelled up to her shoulders, before sliding down and gripping her wrists and grinning, "No, it's my turn to be in charge." His lips travelled back up along her stomach, his tongue slipping out of his mouth once again to draw a path from her navel to her collar bone. His teeth gently grazed her collar bone, as his hands moved up and down her arms, caressing her skin as Charlie tightened her legs around his. He loosened his grip on her arms as she stretched her hands upwards, wrapping them around his neck and pulling his lips into contact with hers. He moaned gently as her mouth opened against his and her tongue made its way confidently into his mouth. Her hands travelled down from his neck, stroking his back in small circles before gripping his butt tightly, causing him to groan loudly and completely relinquish his grip on her arms offering her the perfect opportunity to roll out from underneath Brax's body.

"You're quite right, Darryl," Charlie giggled, "I did enjoy that."

"Hmph," Brax mumbled, "How do you do that?" He asked pouting, looking dishevelled amongst the sand.

"I'm always in charge Darryl. You'd do well to remember that." Charlie teased.

"You know Charlie, sometimes it's good to let others take control, to just sit back and enjoy the show." He stated, sitting up in the sand.

"Hm, I can't say I'm very good at that."

"Well then, practise." He replied, gently kissing her lips and wrapping his arms around her waist. "We should probably get going, Rubes and Case may have created a baby Braxton."

"Oh God, please don't scar me. I've barely got over the memory of seeing your brother naked, let alone what he was doing. Eurgh..." She shuddered as Brax stood up and pulled her up with his hands.

"I want to say thank you Charlie for this," Brax smiled at her, "I've never enjoyed a date so much. You're amazing."

"Haha, you're really not so bad yourself." She grinned up at him before grabbing and entwining her fingers with his and leading him to the car.

"You're back late," Heath stated as a grinning Brax wandered through the door, "Where've you been?"

"Working." He answered simply.

"Right. So why you grinning?" He asked suspiciously.

"I'm not. It was just a good evening; we made a lot of money."

"Right. So nothing happened with Buckton?" Heath lent back into the chair, his eyebrows raised.

"What? No. Just business." Brax answered smirking.

"You saying our bet isn't business?"

"Our bet," He sighed, "Do we have to do this? It seems a little cruel..."

"Bullshit. What's your real problem?"

"I just don't think it's right, I mean she's a real person, we shouldn't be betting on her like we're at the races." Brax argued.

"Oh fuck, you're in love with her." Heath gasped.

"What?! No, I'm not, I don't do love, you know that." Brax yelped.

"Maybe not before, but you've fallen for the Buckton bitch... I can't believe it, the great Brax in love. Have you actually slept with her yet or is it all chocolates and teddy bears?" Heath teased before being hit round the head by Brax.

"I don't love her, end of." Brax stated, "And I'll do your stupid bet. I'll get her to say we're a couple, okay? But, I don't want a word of this getting out to anyone, especially her. Got that?"

"Sure thing," Heath replied smirking, "Am I not supposed to tell her you love her as well?"

"Piss off." Brax retorted storming out of the room to Heath's raucous laughter.

Brax walked into Angelo's the next morning to find a stressed looking Charlie rushing around.

"What's up Bossy?" Brax asked smirking.

"Bossy?! I am not bossy Darryl!" Charlie cried exasperated, "I am stressed. Very stressed."

"Hey, breathe sweetheart," Brax soothed putting his hands on her arms, "Talk to me, what's wrong?"

"Angelo didn't turn up this morning, and the guy I normally get to cover is out of town and I can't do it because I have to go to a teacher-parent appointment thing with Rubes and I don't know what to do..."

"Hey, hey, why didn't you call me?" Brax asked quietly.

"I don't know, I just didn't." She answered after a moment's pause.

"Well, look, how about this? I'll call up Heath and get him to cover with me and you can go to your meeting." Brax decided.

"Really? Will he do it?"

"Yeah, course he will. There's no reason to worry okay, I'll take care of everything. Trust me?" Brax smiled.

"Thank you Darryl. I'll pay you back later." She smiled up at him.

"Hm, I'll hold you to that." He muttered to her retreating figure.

"So that was all really good wasn't it Rubes?" Charlie asked as she wandered out of the parent-teacher meeting with Ruby.

"Yeah, I guess. But tell me really Charlie, why are you so smiley?"

"Isn't having a genius God daughter who gets straight a's a good enough reason?" Charlie grinned.

"Well, normally yes but you've been grinning for days now...as has Brax..." Ruby added sneakily.

"What a weird coincidence..." replied Charlie coyly.

"So, still nothing go on there?"

"Nup." Charlie smiled sweetly.

"Right, because Casey and I were considering going away this weekend if you two wanted th house to yourselves..."

"Is that your sneaky way of asking me whether you and Case can go away?" Charlie raised her eyebrows.

"Maybe..." Ruby trailed off cautiously.

"Well, that's alright with me, if it's okay with Darryl..." Charlie answered smiling.

"Really?!" Ruby squealed, "You're the best."

"Good meeting?" Brax asked sneaking up behind Charlie as she sat drinking a coffee at the diner.

"You almost gave me a heart attack." She stated, jumping, "It was really good actually."

"I'm glad. So, I've been talking to Case and he has some wacky plan of taking Rubes up the coast this weeked. How'd you feel about that?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

"I'm fine with it if you are." She replied simply.

"That's very cool of you."

"I'm a very cool person don't y'know Darryl?" Charlie answered, a smirk gracing her pretty face.

"Well, there you are Brax." Heath shouted across the diner, "Seriously, just get your act together and ask the pretty lady out Brax. Stop being such a wuss." Brax's face slowly turned a shade of scarlet to the laughter of Charlie.

"Yeah, go on Darryl, don't be a girl now." She urged, grinning.

"What?" He questioned, surprised.

"Ask me to go out with you..."

"Um, okay...go out with me..." A dubious expression was painted across his face.

"No way. That's no way to ask a lady out Darryl, seriously, did your mother teach you nothing? Better luck next time sweetheart..." She smiled playfully as she stood up, before placing a small kiss on his cheek.

"Ouch." Heath stated, falling into the chair Charlie had just vacated, "You've got your work cut out with that one."

"You can say that again." Brax muttered under his breath. " Nah, she's a softie really, she just has a very hard outer shell. I just need to break her down and then she's all mine aye?"

"Hm, good luck with that. I always thought you were good at playing the game, but her, woah, she's something else."

"Thanks for that Heath." Brax replied sarcastically.

"Any time bro..." Heath patted his brother on the shoulder in mock support.


End file.
